Necessarily Heretical
by rdc30
Summary: When the Inquisition discovers a portal to another universe in the wake of the Thirteenth Black Crusade, an expedition is sent through with the goal of finding Mankind's salvation. However, not everything is as it seems in this pristine new world.
1. Chapter 1

Interrogator Killian Ibrena sat cross-legged on the main observation deck of her Master's Lunar-class cruiser _Disproportionate Retribution_, and silently contemplated the events that she had foreseen and the events that had already occurred. The Inquisitor had requisitioned the ship and its crew from the remnants of the Imperial fleet gathered over Cadia in the immediate aftermath of the Thirteenth Black Crusade. The team had followed a small heretic ship which had broken off from the main fleet as they fled back into the Eye of Terror.

Her Master had trusted Killian's visions of the heretic vessel and its eventual destination. Killian's heart had swelled with pride and loyalty when her Master had taken Killian's warning seriously and the team had been chasing the heretics for over three years now.

At least, it was three years to the people on board the ship.

They had followed the heretics through warp-storms and daemon-worlds. They had chased the heretics into fractures in the wall of reality itself. The heretics had thrown daemons and witches at the team but they held strong to their faith and disrupted every single ritual at every single location the heretics had gone to. The journey had been long and hard. The ship was battered and the crew exhausted both physically and spiritually. Of the one hundred thousand men who started the journey, only ten thousand remained. Killian herself had to give over twenty thousand men the Emperor's Mercy.

However, that journey was now at an end. The heretic frigate was making its final stand over this nameless and desolate planet on the edge of the Eye of Terror itself. Killian could see the massive hole in reality from her current position and the sight would have driven any lesser human mad. The planet which plagued her dreams and dominated her divinations into the future now sat right in front of her. The world had once held life and Killian experienced the strangest visions when she tried to trace the web of fate surrounding the planet.

The threads of destiny seemed to flow in unnatural angles and shapes which hurt her mind as she fought to divine the events that had led them here. From what she could tell, the planet contained a gateway to a place of great power and importance. The fate of the planet seemed to wrap around the destiny of all humankind. However, what worried her was that her view of the events was blurry, as though she were seeing it through a sheet of mist.

Oh sweet Emperor, not again. This always happened.

Killian sighed explosively and opened her eyes. Why the divination of important things was never clear never failed to annoy her. Until recently, the school of divination was absolutely worthless in Killian's mind and she wished she had never bothered to waste her time perfecting it. With hindsight, she realized that she would have been much happier to have learned some pyromancy. Why bring flamers when she could do the same with her brain? If she were not a Gamma-Primaris level pysker with highly developed skills in the school of telepathy, she would have felt like she scammed her way into her current position.

OoooOoh! I see dark things in the future! Master! Beware! The heretics are planning something dark! What you ask? Well…I don't really know! The threads of fate are hazy and unclear! But I know it must be bad if the heretics are doing it right?

It had seemed like a good idea at the time and her mentors in the Scholastica Psykana on Holy Terra had told her she had a rather rare talent for it. See the future, they said, it'll be awesome, they said. Of course, they never told her more often than not, the visions of the future she saw were absolute grox-dung and would never come to pass. If she wanted to see weird what-if scenarios in her head, she'd rather use her imagination. That had less of a chance of daemonic possession and was much cheaper to prepare. When was the last time a child had to spend over ten thousand credits worth of purity seals in order to see what would happen if she did not do her homework?

She had been recruited into the Inquistion because her mentors had tricked her Master into thinking the talent was actually useful. What Inquisitor Henrick Kosver of the Ordo Malleus did not know was that the daemonic entities they were to hunt were usually protected by one Chaos God or another and they were shrouded from Killian's mind. Fortunately, she found that she was rather talented at banishing daemons with her mind and the Emperor had seen fit to gift her with a rather amazing ability to make heretics tell her whatever she wanted to know.

People she met were usually cautious and fearful of her and, while it was borderline heretical, she rather liked the respect they gave her. She reasoned that having her childhood and life taken away by the Emperor, He on Earth kind of owed her something in return. Being in the Inquistion was rather fun sometimes once you learned to deal with the soul-sucking abominations that were daemons. She got to attend all sorts of fancy parties at rich people's mansions and got a free pass to amuse herself however she pleased. She reasoned that in her current line of work and considering her mutation, she ought to enjoy her life for all it was worth.

Killian had been put into the Scholastica Psykana of Terra at the age of four and she was recruited into the Inquistion at the age of ten. She had spent another ten years training and testing to prove herself worthy of this great honor. She had been in her Master's retinue for only a two years when they were ordered to Cadia to combat the chaos horde for the next two years. During that time, they had banished almost one hundred lesser daemons and one of the most empty minded and flirtatious entities Killian had ever encounter, who also happened to be a daemon princess and whose defeat had somehow warranted her promotion from Explicator.

Throughout all that time, Killian could not recall using her divination skills to any useful gain at all. There was that one time when she had divined her Master's fall from grace and awaken just in time to see her Master trip and fall down the stairs of the Inquisition fortress in front of no less than five different Inquisitor Lords.

Killian shook her mind off her past experience with divination. Well, at least it seemed to have paid off this time and if everything turns what to be true, she swore she would go find a way to travel back in time to slap some sense into herself. The other crusade forces had completely ignored this heretical frigate and since Killian's team were the only ones who had followed it here, she guessed the other pyskers did not think the event significant enough to draw attention away from finishing off the Despoiler's fleet.

Now the vessel was holding position in orbit over some kind of ruins on the planet. The Luna cruiser slowly moved into the system. Killian knew that soon the psionic shadow hanging over this system would be lifted. With any luck, maybe as soon as they dispose of that frigate.

Destiny was at hand.

* * *

Captain Dennis Benson sat slumped on his command throne as his ship's long journey was finally nearing its end. The Inquisitor's mission was about to be accomplished and his men would finally be able to get some well-deserved rest. Not for the first time, Dennis wished that he had simply pretended his ship's vox was damaged and never let those people on board.

Now most of his crew was dead and his beautiful ship would need to spend years if not decades in the docks before she was restored to her former glory. The ship had already suffered some damage during the Black Crusade. When the Inquisitor had arrived on board, Dennis had been worried the man was about to execute him for some reason or another. Every Imperial citizen knew the zeal with which the Inquisition carries out its edict.

"How long until we enter firing range?" Dennis directed the question to no one in particular. He felt absolutely exhausted and could no longer summon to energy to even look at his officers anymore.

"Twenty minutes until we enter lance range, sir!"

They had run out of torpedoes over a year ago. The serfs who had once slaved away to reload their cannons had all died six months ago when a daemon had manifested inside the primary weapons battery and slaughtered everyone inside before the Inquisitor banished it. Now they could not even reassign people because everyone left had a vital job.

Suddenly, the very temperature in the room seemed to drop and Dennis gulped as he realized who had arrived. He summoned his remaining strength and stood to attention before crossing his hands to make the sign of the Aquila, more in an attempt to invoke the Emperor's protection than a sign of respect.

"Interrogator Ibrena, ma'am, you honor us with your presence. We are approaching the heretic vessel. I was just about to send for the Inquisitor when you arrived, milady."

The woman simply stared at him and he quickly averted his eyes. The two of them must have stood there for at least five minutes. He was too terrified to sit down due to the rumors he had heard of Inquisitors executing men for lesser disrespects. He imagined her shifting through his mind, finding his every secret and scrutinizing his every action. He nearly broke into a panic as he distinctively recalled some rather heretical thoughts he once had of a daemonette who had manifested on the ship during the Despoiler's Black Crusade.

Emperor's balls! Would she know about that? Was it grounds for execution for the thought to even cross his mind despite the fact that he had quashed the thoughts a second after it wormed its way into his brain? He had heard of Inquisitors executing men for just looking at a daemon before.

As the terrifying minutes dragged on, he summoned what little courage remained and peeked at the woman's face. What he saw filled his heart with a mixture of relief and anger. The vile witch was staring at him with the most bizarre and unnerving smile spread across her face and he got the distinct feeling that she was toying with him. She must have sensed his annoyance because her grinned got even wider.

He was very tempted to shout at her for wasting his time in order to simply make him look foolish but he was not sure he should push his luck. The witch's stupid grin turned into an arrogant smirk and he suddenly got the urge to punch the woman in her smug face. Fortunately, he managed to regain his composure and turned away before the woman provoked him into doing something stupid.

He was about to return to his seat when she strolled past him and plopped down on his command throne. He failed to keep the scowl off his face and she gave him an overly innocent smile. Sighing, he walked over to the tactical officer's station in order to check the situation.

"Status report, ensign."

"Everything is running fine, considering the state of the ship, captain. Engines are running at forty-percent power and the forward lance-array can only handle about fifty-percent power or we risk them overloading."

"Frak…what about the enemy ship?"

"Their engines seem to have overloaded and taken out a quarter of the ship. It seems to be venting atmosphere and we destroyed their lance-arrays and cannons during that last engagement."

"Good…but I want you to keep monitoring them. This could be a trap to lure us int-"

"I'm sorry, Captain."

A voice rang out behind him. Dennis turned his head and looked the witch in the eyes. Her face now had a somber look on it. Dennis was surprised and stunned.

"I …what?"

"I said I'm sorry, Captain. For everything. I truly regret this and I must ask for your forgiveness."

Dennis was speechless. What had gotten into her? Interrogator Killian Ibrena had mostly kept to the section of the ship where the Inquisitor and his team liked to lurk. The few times he had even seen her were at the briefings. She had always come off as rather…eccentric. He, honestly, did not know what brought this side of her out and why. And this had him worried.

"It's…there is nothing to forgive, milady. We are simply performing our duty. It is an honor to serve the Emperor's Holy Inquisition. The men who died here knew their sacrifice was for the survival of humanity."

Dennis felt his chest swell with pride and he felt the words breath new strength into his body. As he looked around, he saw that the entire crew seemed renewed by his words. The witch gave a sad but genuine smile and rose out of his command throne and mentioned for him to retake his seat as she moved back to the entrance.

"Captain, status report." Dennis's head snapped to the back of the bridge in time to see Ibrena slip into step to the right of Inquisitor Henrick Kosver.

The man was a terrifying sight to behold. He was more than two meters feet tall and had the muscles to match. Dennis had mistaken the Inquisitor in his power armor for one of the blessed Adeptus Astartes when he first boarded the ship.. He possessed a shoved head and a hard looking face set in permanent frown and held eyes that seemed to pierce into a man's soul. The silver-colored armor he always seemed to wear was extremely ornate with the symbol of his office attached to the chest plate. Pages of parchment inscribed with holy texts were pinned to the armor with purity seal.

By contrast, his acolyte barely reached to his shoulders and had long straight white hair that stretched to her shoulder-blades. Her pale face had a refined aristocratic look with clear blue eyes. She wore a black leather coat over a suit of thin and black carapace armor. Her badge of office hung from her belt.

Neither one of them was armed but Dennis knew that they could easily kill everyone on the bridge without effort. Swallowing the fear that had surged up his throat at the sight of the imposing Inquisitor, he quickly saluted.

"We should be entering firing range in ten minutes, milord. The enemy ship appears to be disabled but we are detecting something on the planet's surface."

The witch whispered something to the Inquisitor but Dennis could not read their facial expressions. The two spoke for a few minutes before the witch turned back to him. Dennis noted that the Inquisitor turned to depart.

"Very good captain, destroy the enemy as soon as possible."

"Very well, milady."

* * *

As the cruiser rapidly approached the heretic vessel, the damaged frigate did not respond at all. Dennis was no long worried about a trap because his auspex scans show that the ship was so low on energy, it would take the reactor more than an hour to power back up to combat state.

"Fire control, fire all remaining forward lances. Maintain course and speed. This should only take one volley and I want to check the debris as soon as possible."

Beams of brilliant energy shot out from the front of the warship and sheered into the enemy vessel. Dennis saw the beams cut through the hull of the enemy ship like a hot knife through butter. It seemed the void shields were down as well. The continuous lance strikes quickly broke the ship apart and explosions inside the ship tore it into pieces soon after.

The bridge broke into cheers as their long voyage came to an end. Now they could return home and Dennis could have his first real sleep in over three years. He slumped into his command throne as exhaustion seemed to overwhelm him. He found that he had trouble trying to stay conscious but he knew he still had a job. He had to accomplish his mission before he could rest.

"Thank you, all of you." He heard the witch speak beside him and the bridge fell silent to listen. "Our mission to save the Imperium is on the verge of success thanks to you men. You have served the Emperor well. I am very sorry it had to turn out this way. Once again, please forgive me as you find peace in the Emperor's embrace."

Dennis suddenly realized what was about to happen. "By the Emperor, you plan to kill us! Why? We are loyal servants of Humanity!" He struggled to rise from his throne but found that his exhausted limbs could no longer respond. He noted in horror as the other members of his bridge crew also slump into their chairs.

"What have you done to us, witch?" Dennis demanded as his vision started to blacken.

He turned his head weakly to track their murderer as she walked over to his console and deactivated the ship's safeties on the warp-core and Gellar fields. Then he watched in horror as she set the ship to enter the warp in thirty minutes.

"How could you? We served you faithfully for three years! Most of us died to complete this mission! How could you do this to us?"

The witch turned to him with a sad expression on her face. "What did I do? I did what was necessary to complete the mission and save the Imperium. Do you have any idea what power lies on that planet? We could not let the heretics corrupt an entire virgin universe!"

Then she waved her hand and a veil seemed to have lifted from his mind. Dennis was driven nearly insane by what happened.

The bridge instantly turned into a nightmare. Many stations were heavily damaged and dirty like they had not been cleaned for years. He watched in horror as the body of his crew turned into disgusting and grotesque abominations that were starting to dissolve into goo. He saw bloody runes that made him want to vomit etched onto nearly every vacant surface of the bridge. Dirty and twisted purity seals were everywhere. Looking down, Dennis screamed in despair at what he saw.

"What…what…what is this?" Dennis stammered in horror.

"Your ship was crippled in battle over Cadia almost five years ago, Captain. Your bodies were preserved by the vacuum after the ship lost life-support. My master needed a warship to follow and then destroy our enemy since our transport can't hope to take on a frigate."

"What...what…what are you saying?" Dennis demanded.

"What I'm saying is that I used my knowledge of the warp to shackle your souls to your bodies and tricked your brains into seeing something that would not drive you insane. You have been sitting on that throne for the past five years and now your body is starting to decompose. We must give thanks to the Emperor that our mission was accomplished before your bodies weakened pass the point of usefulness."

"No…no…no this can't be happening!"

"Thank you for forgiving me for this, Captain. Now you can rest in peace knowing that your crew served the Emperor even in death. You will all be immortalized and honored as heroes when we claim our prize and return to the Imperium."

"Why did it have to be us? Why?" Dennis was fading. He realized he had not noticed his own breathing or heartbeat since the battle over Cadia.

The witch's saddened expression turned into a scowl. "Because those stupid Puritans threw their dogma in my Master's face when he approached them with what I foresaw! They would rather the Imperium burn then to go through one small warp-portal and back. Ha! Those stupid hypercritics go through worse every time they travel to another star system!"

Dennis' mind reeled back in terror as he realized what this meant.

"You…you're heretics!"

The expression the witch gave him sent fear into his very soul. Her previous warmth had evaporated and the gaze she sent him actually dropped the temperature in the room.

"What…did you call us?" The witch's face consorted into one of pure anger.

"It seems I was mistaken, Captain, you do not have the strength to do what must be done. That is why you will never be placed in a position of power. Nevertheless, you are a loyal servant of Him on Earth and you did do your part, however unwilling you might have been had you known the truth. It would be hypocritical of me to deny you honor when all members of the Inquisition know just how many people's courage would fail if they ever found out the extent of that which would destroy their very soul."

"Emperor…damn…you…traitor…" Dennis could no longer see the witch's face and what he heard next was only in a whisper.

"When I die, I will proudly face the Emperor's judgment. He will decide whether we were right to do what we did. However, you do not have the right to judge us and neither do our closed-minded comrades. Farewell, Captain Dennis Benson. Ave Imperator. The Emperor Protects."

As Dennis' soul left his body, again, he managed to say what he always fantasized about saying before he died. "For the Emperor!"


	2. Chapter 2

As far as warships ships go, the _Silent Guardian_ could probably rank as one of the more comfortable and luxurious ships in service to His Majesty. The Inquisitor had purchased the ship almost thirty years ago and had been upgrading it ever since. It started as a long-range luxury yacht used by rich guilds to ferry hundreds of rich executives to and from paradise worlds. Now the ship could barely house more than fifty. All that extra space had been converted into hidden gun-emplacements and void-shield capacitors.

According to Captain Octavian, the ship had the firepower to take on a small fleet of system patrol ships. It was usually more than enough power to defeat whatever ships some heretics could muster. Unfortunately, the Inquisitor felt it was too reckless to chase the heretical frigate alone.

Killian was glad this whole business was behind them and they could get on with their mission. Talking to a bloated and rotting corpse was getting awkward and the bridge had started to stink. As she entered the hanger, Killian was relieved to see that everything was almost completely stowed and ready for departure. It would have been rather pathetic if they were all killed because Killian had not given them enough time. By her reckoning, they still had about ten minutes until the ship's reactor overloaded.

As she approached the ship, she noted that Archmagos Flavion's servitors and adepts were loading the last of their supplies and equipment into the cargo hold. Nodding a greeting to the machine priest, she boarded the ship and entered the main passenger lobby. The room was built to resemble a fancy theater with all the crash couches fitted with a decent amount of padding and covered in expensive leather. At the front of the room, facing the 'audience' was a stage with a massive screen behind it.

Her master was already strapped into his special throne, designed to fit his power armor, and conversing with Palmos, his ancient sage. The frail old man was smaller than even Killian but she knew that he was the one the Inquisitor trusted the most. A small part of her was jealous and bitter over the fact that her Master trusted someone else over her. She was supposed to be his second-in-command! However, the rational part of her mind knew that the Inquisitor already placed a lot of faith in her and that Palmos had earned his trust through decades of service.

Killian noted that the two dozen storm troopers led by Captain Varnias were all accounted for. Flavion's Skitarii were assembled as well and awaiting their master's arrival. Her face turned into a grimace as she noticed the woman sitting aside from everyone. She gave Killian a mild headache just by looking at her, even with her inhibitor on. The assassin sensed her glare and turned her blank face in Killian's direction. A wave of cold dread flowed through her body and she shuddered before quickly averting her eyes.

"Master, is everything ready? The ship will blow in less than five minutes." Killian asked as she sat down next to the Inquisitor and felt herself sink into the overly soft couch.

The inquisitor turned to her with a reassuring smile that most people would find out of place on his face. "The ship is ready, we're just waiting on our friends from the Mechanicus to get onb-"

"There is no need to wait further Inquisitor, our equipment has been properly blessed and stowed away. I suggest we depart immediately."

Killian turned her head and saw that the Arch-Magos had boarded the ship and lowered himself to the deck since he would not fit into the seats. His lesser acolytes, however, moved to strap themselves in and Killian felt the ship stir as it left the cruiser's hangar.

Killian could hardly contain her excitement at what they were about to accomplish. If the ancient texts unearthed during the Black Crusade were true, and Killian's visions seem to say they were, then this planet held a portal to another universe. The former daemon-host that wrote the prophesy had been executed by the team but they found the scroll among his remains. The other inquisitors had told them the idea was heresy and foolish. When her Master had decided the risk was worth it, they had gone over the heads of their comrades and enlisted the aid of the Martian Brotherhood with tales of possible lost technology and maybe even an STC.

However, what they did not know was that the team had even larger goals in mind. Goals that, if successful, would save the Imperium.

They were going to find the Emperor himself.

* * *

As the ship descended into the atmosphere of the barren world, Killian closed her eyes in order to see into the world that was to be the Imperium's salvation with her witch-sight. Muttering a short litany of protection and warding, her mind detached itself from her body and flew towards the planet.

The first thing that she noticed was that the barrier between the immaterium and materium was extremely thin. Normally this low level of separation was only seen on daemonworlds in the Eye of Terror. However, Killian saw that an astoundingly powerful force was keeping the planet from plunging into chaos. Flying around the world in the blink of an eye, Killian's spirit soon found their prize.

The ruins on the planet appeared to be some kind of massive pyramid with a flat circular top. Pylons stretched around the structure and emitted a powerful warp-suppression field. Killian did not dare venture closer for fear that her soul would become either trapped or annihilated.

Killian probed the structure with her mind while she waited for their ship to descent onto the planet. At the foot of the structure, she encountered some kind of warp beacon which connected all the way into the heart of the pyramid. Curiosity getting the better of her, she slowly made contact with the device.

A blinding light instantly surrounded her and Killian's spirit recoiled in fright at the power of the beacon. The thing's presence felt….alien to her. Not of human design, for sure, also not of this universe. Killian's mind swelled with excitement. This just served to further prove their mission! The beacon connected to another universe! Probing further into the light, Killian saw her first visions from another universe.

Ancient and cold. A ghost confronts a shadow. A choice. A flash of light. Salvation or destruction. Preservation or extinction. Hope. Confusion. Anger. A being of immense power and age. Alien…so alien.

You cannot grasp the nature of our existence.

Killian snapped back into her body and felt hands grab her. She realized that her throat was raw from screaming like a lunatic and that she had been thrashing around like she was possessed. Sweat covered her body but shards of ice stuck to her coat. Blood leaked from her eyes and ears. The Inquisitor was holding her down so she did not hurt herself in her spasms. The pariah was moving to her side but the Inquisitor waved her back. Palmos was writing down everything she screamed onto a data-slate.

"The cycle cannot be broken! We are your salvation through destruction! Your time is at an end, you must deci-"

The Inquisitor slapped her across the face and Killian blacked out.

* * *

"Blasted Pyjacks! Whenever something's screwed up, it's always those damn critters." Urdnot Wrex sneered as he blasted another of the little monkeys and grinned when it exploded into a disturbing amount of gore. He was about to blast another one when a voice sounded through his radio.

"Wrex, how about we try to find that data without exterminating everything on this planet?" Commander Jane Shepard asked as she walked around the small 'village' and stared at her omni-tool.

"But where's the fun in that?" Wrex ask with a smirk.

Shepard turned to him with a grin on her face. "Oh don't you worry about that Wrex, with our luck, Saren himself is probably hiding down in that mine over there."

She gestured with her M-99 Saber toward the location that her omni-tool scans had detected advanced technology.

"I bet you ten credits that this is a trap." Jane turned and saw Garrus Valkarian exit the Mako and jog over to join them.

"You always expect the worst, Garrus."

"On the contrary Shepard, this is my special way of always staying positive. If we get ambushed, I win money and if everything is safe…while I think ten credits is a good tribute to the Spirits in order to ensure our safety."

"Uh-ah. How about another bet? First one to find that damn thing gets a guaranteed seat on the next combat mission!"

Wrex grinned at that and turned to Garrus, "I'm sorry kid, but it looks like I get another turn while you have to seat back and play on the ship."

Garrus chuckled at that, "Wrex, when I find that data module, I'll be sure to blast some enemies for you on our next drop. I hear Ashley is looking for someone to share poetry with. Aren't Krogan just misunderstood warrior-poets? Oh wait…"

Jane smiled as the banter continued. The trio entered the mine and set off to find what they wasted the better part of a day seeking.

* * *

"You're a damn cheater Vakarian, I was actually looking for it while you just let the computer do all the work."

"Excuses, excuses, oh and Shepard, how about that ten credits?"

"Yea, yea, I'm wiring it to you right now." Jane grunted as she ducked back into cover to let her rifle cooldown. She activated her omni-tool and sent the money to Garrus before popping back out of cover to put two rounds into the chest of a Geth Destroyer.

The machine staggered back and Garrus dropped it with a single shot to the chest from his customized Viper. Wrex charged out of cover with a surge of biotic energy and slammed into a group of four geth troopers. The shockwave from the charge threw them all into the air where Wrex proceeded to blast two with his Wraith before Jane and Garrus picked off the other two.

After another minute, the mine was silent again and more than twenty geth warriors had been turned to scrap. Wrex walked around the cavern and put another round into each of the machines.

"Why the long face Wrex? I'd think the battle would cheer you up." Jane joked as she attached the data module to her back and turned to leave this annoying planet for good.

Wrex sneered and did not respond.

"Oh come on Wrex! Don't be a big grump like that!" Jane laughed, "tell you what, how about we all go on the next mission? It'll be fun! A single squad against an entire Geth army. They'll be talking about it for years!"

That cheered Wrex up and brought a feral grin to his face.

"But I won, Shepard! What do I get now?"

"You can get the last piece of dextro-cake when we take down Saren once and for all. How about that?"

"Tali's not going to be happy about that."

"She won't be able to eat it anyway without decontaminating it. Do you know what it'll look like when she can finally eat it? We're doing her a favor."

"Whatever you say, Commander."

The trio climbed back on board the Mako and were about to signal the Normandy for pick up when the radio buzzed.

Jane quickly answered, "Joker, what's the situation?"

"Commander! Did you encounter the Geth? They came out of FTL and landed a dropship at your location. We managed to destroy the mothership but Geth troops are closing on you."

The team exchanged glances at each other before they all smirked and Garrus responded. "Joker, thanks for the heads up, but we already took out the Geth. The effort is appreciated though."

"Oh…well I'm detecting another weird energy signature to the west of your location. Not Geth, might be Prothean, not sure though. Might be worth checking out."

"I hear you Joker, we're on our way. Get ready to pick us back up when we're done."

"Will do Commander, Normandy out."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thanks for all the feedback guys. Please tell me any tips and advice you have on how to improve my writing.

guest: Any specific areas I can change or work on?

Jouaint: Not spoiling that yet ;), but do you think the Emperor actually exists? Warp-induced visions and ramblings of daemon-hosts aren't exactly the most reliable sources.

* * *

Killian's eyes slowly opened to the sight of her darkened room aboard her Master's ship. A wave of sadness washed over her as she realized today might be the last time that she saw this cramped and uncomfortable room. _You never realize how much something means to you until you are about to lose it_, she silently mused. Her room was rather dull since she had never bothered to really decorate it. Killian never put much value into material goods so the fancy décor that her comrades like to adorn their uniform and walls with was absent from Killian's wardrobe.

What she did value, however, and was sad to be parted with, were the books and scrolls which lined one side of her walls. Killian secretly liked to think that every one of her prized possessions was worth more than a medium-prized Hive. The feeling gave her a rather twisted, and probably heretical, sense of superiority and accomplishment. Being a psyker in the Imperium was not exactly the most pleasant experience. People get it into their heads that they were better than her and she refused to accept that. Of course, she was smart enough to keep such heretical thoughts to herself. This is not to say that she did not like to amuse herself at the expense of people who annoyed her.

_What's that Mister Planetary Governor? You think you're better than me because you can't see into the future? Well, guess what? Say hi to the Tyranids in twenty years for me!_

The memory of the man's expression brought a smile to her face and worked to brighten her rather depressing day. Despite her excitement and pride to be part of the expedition, she was rather unnerved by the thought of entering a whole new universe. Both she and her Master knew that the mission carried a heavy risk, but the prize could be the most pivotal event to strike the Imperium since the Heresy. The idea of the Emperor once again leading humanity filled Killian with righteous fervor.

Pulling herself out of bed, Killian prepared herself for what could possibly be her last day in the Forty-First Millennium.

* * *

An hour later, Killian emerged from the dark corridors of the ship onto the world that had hosted them for the last two weeks. She had taken everything she planned to bring with her through the portal and stuffed it into two bags which she slung over her shoulders. She wore a black body-glove under her worn carapace armor and long-coat. She had pulled up the hood which served to both intimidate and conceal her face from people. The hood had a built in psy-weave which served to boast her already considerable powers and offered some protection from enemy psykers.

Her trusty force sword hung from its scabbard at her side while her inferno pistol hung in its holster on her opposite hip. She had stuffed an extra body-glove and another set of undergarments into one bag while the other bag contained some of her more useful books and almost a million credits worth of purity seals and blessed parchment.

As she walked through the small camp, Killian looked around at everything the team had accomplished in just two weeks. Serfs and servitors ran around on whatever errand their overseers had given them. Storm troopers and Skitarii patrolled the perimeter in case of enemy attack. The first thing the expedition had done when they disembarked was to secure a defensive position at the base of the pyramid. The storm troopers had set up two las-cannons and the Skitarii had set up an anti-air position on one of the upper tiers of the pyramid with what looked like a stripped-down Hydra turret.

Approaching the steps leading up the pyramid, Killian spotted the main Mechanicus tent. The tech-priests were tinkering with one of the numerous pieces of technology that they had dug up around the ruins. So far, unfortunately, most of it was too withered and damaged to even be recognized. An commotion caught her attention and she turned to peer inside the tent. A woman was casually playing with some of the alien technology, much to the attending techpriest's distress. The figure wore a rather skimpy dress that had no place in such a dangerous environment and a set of ridiculously high-heeled boots.

Already knowing what the argument was about even without the aid of her gifts, Killian smiled and called out.

"Lyra, over here!"

The younger woman turned and her face split into a wide smile. She casually threw aside the trinket she had been toying with and the techpriest emitted a buzz of distressed machine-code as he rushed to catch it.

Killian smiled, "keeping busy, I see."

The woman turned her nose up and huffed. "This is so dull. We've been here for two weeks already! Nothing exciting has happened at all! When I heard we were going to travel to another universe, I thought I'd see wonders and sights beyond imagination! But so far, all I have seen is this ugly desert and a crumpling building!"

"It must be better than being stuck in the ship all day, right? At least the warp feels calm here."

The navigator scoffed, "and the heat! It's making me sweat! I hate it when I sweat! And the dirt! I feel dirty! Every time I set foot outside the ship, I feel like I have to bath for an hour to get all the grim off me."

"Come on Lyra, don't be like that! We're making history here! Think of the all the fame you'll get!"

"Bah! I won't even be allowed to journey to the other side! You guys get to see all the amazing things and I'm stuck here for Emperor knows how long while we wait for you to return."

"Well….when you put it like that…."

"Aah!"

Killian snapped her head in her friend's direction in time to see her heel snap off and send her tumbling back down the steps. Fighting to suppress the laughter rising up her throat, she rushed down the pyramid to the woman's side. Quickly checking for injuries, Killian saw that she had a twisted ankle which was starting to swell but nothing serious.

"Lyra, are you alright? Can you walk?"

"Killian, I think I'm dying! The pain is overwhelming! Help!"

Killian struggled to keep her face straight as she mentioned a pair of serfs to her side and ordered them to take Lyra to the ship's medicae. Fortunately, Lyra had fainted by then and the two serfs were able to unceremoniously drag her back to the ship without the inevitable objections that the woman would have thrown at them were she awake.

Resuming her climb, Killian felt worse and worse as she got closer to the pinnacle. The team had managed to contain the warp-suppression field emitted by the pylons but Killian still felt the effects. Her soul felt like it was being cut off from her body and her feelings were being increasingly dulled, an effect she normally only felt when she mentally possessed another being.

Fighting against the pressure building in her mind, she ascended the final steps and reached the top of the structure. The plateau was as big as a thunderhawk and possessed a raised circular platform. Her Master and the Arch-Magos were already waiting along with Palmos and an honor guard of storm troopers and Skitarii. Killian could feel the power of the warp burn like a sun and was instantly glad for the suppression field. If the pylons had not existed, this entire system would most likely be consumed by the Ruinous Powers.

This could be a problem. If the field stayed contained for too long, the warp-rift could spread until turning the field back on may no longer be sufficient in containing it. However, with the field on, the chance of them opening a controlled gateway were negligible. The team had discussed the situation for the better part of a week and in the end had settled on a compromise.

Killian and the Archmagos, along with a squad of Skitarii and servitors, will make the journey to the other side while the rest remain behind. Once they passed through the portal, the suppression field would be reactivated. The field would then be deactivated once every month in order to allow their astropath to contact Killian. It was not the best plan but in the end, it was deemed caution was best.

Walking to a raised podium at the back of the pyramid, Killian unpacked one of her books and began to prepare the ritual of activation. From what the team could tell, the portal would normally be controlled by a small keyhole like interface. Since no one had any idea where to find such a trinket, a more simple solution was to just force the portal open themselves. The Arch-Magos had theorized that the key would normally temporarily disable the suppression field and jump-start the portal.

So far, they had managed to contain the suppression field, now all that was required was a little kick in the rear of the warp in order to get the portal open. Whispering a litany of protection and a quick prayer to the Emperor, Killian prepared her psychic defenses before opening her copy of the _Legem Chaotica_ in order to go over the steps of the ritual one more time. Strange thoughts and emotions immediately assaulted her senses and she fought to the not be overwhelmed by the corrupting power of the book.

"Master, I am almost ready to begin the ritual, prepare the subjects."

The Inquisitor nodded and signaled one of the storm troopers, who saluted and ran down the pyramid. Memorizing the runes, Killian quickly returned the book to her pack and sighed in relief as the vile presence lifted from her mind.

After a minute, eight chained forms were dragged into a rough circle formation. The wretches had their eyes and tongue removed prior to the ritual and wore collars which kept their powers in check. The witches had been captured during the Black Crusade after they corrupted an entire regiment of Guardsmen. Killian snared in disgust at the pathetic wretches as they twitched around on the ground.

She began the ritual.

"Divine Emperor, hear the pleas of your humble servant. Please guide our step and our hand as we journey into a world devoid of Your Light. Our faith is our shield, our hatred the sword. We will light to the way into darkness with the pyres of burning heretics. In Your Name do we condemn these souls to oblivion. Praise the Emperor! Ave Imperator."

Killian unsheathed her ritual dagger and stepped behind the heretics. She began to carve bloody runes into the bodies of the witches, one by one, until each was left moaning pathetically on the ground. As she worked, a serf with his eyes and ears sown shut and covered in holy runes and purity seals collected the blood that dripped from the heretics into a bowl.

Afterwards, Killian reached for the bowl of blood and focused her powers into the corrupt substance. The blood began to boil and Killian proceeded to dump the contents into the center of the formation. However, instead of simply splashing onto the ground, the blood instantly re-arranged itself into the dreaded Eight-Pointed Star of Chaos. Each of the heretics floated into the air.

Killian stepped behind each of the floating forms and removed their suppression collar before taking her dagger across their throat. The life blood that gushed out flew into the center of the Star. As the blood collected recalled what the book said. Once all eight witches were sacrificed and the correct spell from the book cast, the portal should open.

Killian continued her work with glee as she looked forward to seeing what wonders this other universe held.

* * *

"This is really a lot harder than it should be." Jane muttered in frustration as she struggled to fill out the overly contrived and annoying form in order to claim a simple mineral deposit. After navigating the complicated maze of bureaucratic lingo, she finally completed the form and posted it to the sign staked next to the cobalt deposit. It seemed that the form was different every time she had to fill it out. It is little wonder why so many deposits were left unclaimed even in well-explored systems.

Her side-mission completed, Jane headed back to the Mako. They had been heading toward the possible Prothean ruins when their mineral scanners had detected the mineral. Jane had debated whether the detour was worth it. Wrex had been adamantly against it, and Garrus had been indifferent. Now as they approached the Prothean ruins, Jane realized that she probably should have listened to Wrex and came straight here.

A small group of armed people were setting up around the structure and Jane scowled. "Scavengers, probably here to loot whatever's valuable. What do you guys think?"

"I say we attack before they notice. The tank should make quick work of them and then we can study that trinket or whatever in peace." Wrex grunted.

"We can't just attack them, Wrex. We should at least send them a message or something before we massacre them." Garrus argued.

"Agreed, they might not be hostile, highly unlikely, but it's still a possibility."

Jane activated the external speakers and opened her com-link.

"Attention everyone near the Prothean ruins, this area is now under Council jurisdiction. I am a SPECTRE and I order you to stand down immediately. Let's not do anything stupid that you're going to regret later."

Not surprisingly, the scavengers immediately ran for cover and opened fire on the Mako as it came into view of the structure. The tank's shields took the small arms fire in stride and Jane had some time to inspect the Prothean ruins. The thing was strange, a circular platform surrounded by strange pylons that seemed to glow faintly and Jane thought she spotted some strange runes which gave her a headache when she focused on them.

Her attention was brought back to the issue of them being attacked when the Mako shuddered slightly from a grenade.

"Now can we kill them?" Wrex snarled and before Jane could reply, he popped open the rear hatch and ran out to face the enemy.

Jane glanced at Garrus with a smile and the Turian shrugged before climbing into the gunner's seat that Wrex had just vacated.

The cannon boomed and a squad of mercenaries was sent flying through the air. Garrus triggered the machine and cut down three more mercenaries. Meanwhile, Wrex had charged into a squad hiding behind one of the Prothean pylons and blasted two unfortunate mercenaries, point-blank, with his shotgun. He laughed in savage delight as their torsos disintegrated into a cloud of gore. The three remaining mercenaries panicked and open fire on him, but then they watched in disbelief as Wrex's biotic barrier stopped every round.

The Battlemaster grinned before ramming his bayonet into the gut of one mercenary and eviscerated him. Wrex then proceed to pick up another mercenary by his throat and threw him at the last mercenary who had turned to run. The two bodies collided with the enough force to send both tumbling to the ground. The Krogan casually armed a grenade and threw into the pileup and watched as the explosion rained small bits of mercenary all over the area.

"God dammit, Wrex! Is it too much to ask for you to stop killing people who are surrendering or running?!" Jane screamed as she disembarked from the Mako and stormed over to the massive Krogan.

Wrex gave her a innocent smile and calmly replied, "What's done is done. Now are we gonna check out those ruins or do you want to argue about this all day?"

"Wrex, if you can't control yourself, you're not going on any more missions and I'm dropping you off on the Citadel first chance I get." Jane shoved a finger into Wrex's face and they both stared each other down.

The ancient Battlemaster dwarfed the slim woman but she did not seem to care. Wrex's biotics started to flare but failed to intimidate Jane in the slightest. In response, Jane's own body glowed with biotic power and the two individual's faces were less than a foot apart.

After what seemed like an eternity, Garrus cleared his throat.

"Um…if I recall, don't we have something we have we have do?"

Both individuals ignored him and neither side backed down. Garrus sighed before walking over to the ruins and started scanning with his omni-tool.

Eventually, Wrex snorted and turned away. "You got quite a set of quads, Shepard. More than any human I've ever met. Alright, I'll keep the 'violence' to a minimum next time."

Jane's face twisted into a smirk. "Thanks Wrex, glad we could come to an agreement before I had to kill you."

Wrex leaned back and laughed heartily. "Haha, I like you Shepard. If we ever have to fight, it will be an honor to kill you in battle."

"Thanks…I guess."

Jane strode over to Garrus as Wrex started to go through the corpses of the mercenaries and their APC.

"What do we have here, Garrus? Another beacon?"

"With our luck? It's probably the Prothean's toxic waste storage. But on a serious note, those pylons are emitting some rather exotic particles and this entire site seems be to devoid of those pesky microbes."

"Is it something we should be worried about?"

"Not sure, I recommend we record everything then send it back to the Council. They'll probably want to know about these ruins anyway."

Jane nodded absent mindedly. She was half hoping that just maybe they'd find something about the Conduit or more information on the Reapers, but it seems her streak of misfortune was destined to continue another day. She strode into the center of the structure and instantly felt like something heavy was weighing down on her head,

Remembering something about 'exotic particles', she quickly backed out of the area. A strange weight still permeated the area, but it seemed to be concentrated at the center.

"Garrus, get some scans of that center area, I got some weird feelings when I walked through it."

"Got it, Shepard, and you should probably get Chakwas to check you out when you get back on the Normandy. There's no telling what effects those particles have on people."

"We should probably all get checked out, for all we know, those particles could turn us all into ugly mutated monsters."

As she continued to circle the structure, Jane thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Instantly alert, she jerked around to face the entity and saw nothing. _Hmm, maybe that stuff is messing with my head_, Jane mused as she walked over to inspect the area.

Something on a small pedestal caught her attention and she was struck with a strong sense of recognition. Suddenly, a strange sensation washed over her mind and she unconsciously reached into her pocket and pulled out a small trinket.

It was the thing that expensive Asari hooker on the Citadel gave her. _Strange_, Jane thought. She did not remember putting it in her pocket. In fact, she distinctly remembered throwing the thing into her drawer on the Normandy. Shaking her head, and labeling the feelings as exhaustion coupled with an over-active imagination, she inspected the pedestal and the trinket.

The trinket seemed to fit into a slot on the pedestal.

"Wow, what are the chances?" She muttered to herself before activating her com-link. "Wrex, Garrus, get over to my position. I think I found something."

After a minute, her teammates rounded the corner and walked over to where she stood.

"Hey, look at this. You remember that trinket the Consort gave me? I think it fits into that slot."

"Well then what are you waiting for?" Wrex grumbled impatiently.

"Wait, I really don't think this is a good idea." Garrus cautioned. "We don't even know what this thing does. It could be a bomb or a weapon or whatever."

"Kid, I wish more Turians were like you, because then we wouldn't have lost the war." Wrex growled.

Garrus ignored him and continued, "Besides, what are the chances that it will even do anything?"

Jane thought it over. The ruins could be dangerous and it was probably reckless to attempt this, however a strange voice in her head argued_, what if it was important? What if it was the key to stopping Saren? If all she did was tell the Council, it could be weeks, even months, before they send a single person here, let alone out find out anything. Even then, they would probably have to activate the thing anyway. Would it not be better for her, a trained soldier and a SPECTRE, to do it instead of some Salarian scientist?_

"Alright, I'm gonna try it, be careful and monitor those energy readings."

"You sure about this Shepard?"

"Not really, but what the hell. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right?"

"I have a really bad feeling about this."

"Will you two shut up and stick it in already?"

* * *

Killian stood back in awe at the shimmering hole in reality that existed before her. They had done it! The portal was open and…kinda stable. But then, one can never expect complete safety while traveling through the warp. The eight heretics had become mutated and fused together into an archway of vile flesh and bone.

Her Master walked up to Killian with an expression of awe and anticipation. Killian watched her work with a wicked grin on her face as she went to pick up her bags and prepared to enter the portal.

"Magnificent work, my child! Our quest is now one step closer to completion. The Imperium will be saved due to all our hard work and sacrifices. Now Killian," her Master turned toward her, "whatever happens on the other side, know that the Emperor guides our steps and that our cause is just. Never falter and lose faith."

Killian beamed with pride and made the sign of the Aquila, "I understand Master. I will not dishonor mankind or the Emperor."

Inquisitor Kosver's expression softened and he returned the gesture. "Go now, child and know that I have faith in you."

Killian nodded and stepped toward the massive Arch-Magos. "I will enter first since the portal might still be somewhat unstable. I am the most qualified to attempt a fix if that is the cause. I will send a message back if I make it to the other side. After that, your group will enter one at a time. I am not sure if the portal will hold up under too much strain."

"We understand Interrogator Killian Ibrena. We will await your signal before venturing forth." The magos buzzed before dipping his head, "Omnissiah guide your steps."

Killian nodded her thanks and walked toward the portal. Checking that her mental defenses were all up and her psy-hood was online, she let out a breath that she had been holding. She looked around and saw that most of the expedition had gathered here to see the spectacle. Taking a deep breath of what might be her last in this universe, Killain walked into the portal.

* * *

"Okay, I probably should not have done that."

The team watched in stunned awe as power seemed to crack in the center of the ruins. The temperature had dropped below freezing and icicles were appearing everywhere.

"The exotic particles have disappeared but now I'm getting a lot, and I mean a lot, of even weirder ones coming not of that center area." Garrus shouted in alarm as the team backed away from the structure.

"Commander, what the hell is going on down there? Sensor readings are off the charts! Something is messing with our computers! We're getting readings that are all other the place and make absolutely no sense." Pressly shouted through the com-link.

"Record everything you can, and get ready to pick us up as soon as possible." Jane replied as she ran toward the pedestal and pulled the trinket out. The pressure that had been building in her head as the energy grew slowly began to shrink. The power itself seemed to start dissipating as the static discharges became less frequent.

* * *

Killian held onto her psychic shield for dear life as she prayed to the God-Emperor that she would emerge with her sanity intact. Her mental barriers and the protective field surrounding the portal had kept most daemonic entities from attacking her but she knew it was only a matter of time before her powers attracted the attention of some vastly more powerful daemons. Killian imagined the abomination she would become were she to succumb to their power. The image filled her with hatred and loathing and she held onto her armor of contempt as she floated toward her destination. She prayed the journey was nearing its completion because she could already sense that countless entities of unimaginable power now had their attention on her.

After what felt like a lifetime but in reality was only an instant. Killian felt physical sensation once again and thanked the Emperor that the journey was over. She was thrown out of the portal onto a platform similar to the one she left from.

Suddenly, right as she left the portal, Killian felt the presence of another warp-suppression field activate. The effects were instant. The portal emitted a scream of rage and pain as it collapsed and Killian felt a moment of panic and despair as her link to her universe closed. Then everything was overwhelmed by pain as the suppression field felt lije it was ripping her mind apart, one layer at a time.

Mercifully, Killian blacked out before she even hit the ground.

* * *

Jane spent a minute trying to keep her lunch down as the after-effects of whatever just happened slowly died down. Looking at her team, she saw that they were all leaning against the ruins as they tried to clear their heads.

"Report!" Jane called into her com-link as the Normandy flew overhead to land a kilometer away.

"The readings have returned to what could be considered normal. The exotic particles are back and I'm only detecting a small amount of that weird energy reading from when you activated the device." Garrus replied as he picked himself up and walked over to her.

"Do we know what that did?"

"Unfortunately, no. I think-"

"Hey! Get over here, I found something." Wrex bellowed.

Jane and Garrus turned in the direction of the Krogan's voice and were rendered speechless. The Battlemaster was standing near the center of the ruins.

And he was gesturing toward a prone, humanoid figure dressed in black lying on the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**: Thanks for all the reviews guys.

First, I want to state that this will go AU. I think we can all agree that the entire Reaper thing revealed in ME3 is pants-on-head stupid. If you really want this story to follow the canon with some WH40k characters thrown in, sorry to disappoint you, let me know how you feel and I will try to improve it anyway I can.

Also, to the people asking for more Mechanicus badassary, don't worry, I'm planning to (re)introduce the other members of Killian's team and the Mechanicus expedition later on.

* * *

Jane stood dumbfounded for a second before running over to the prone figure with Garrus on her heels. She had been considering the possible ramifications of seeing something that scientists thought was impossible. A portal, which was the only thing Jane could think of to describe the bizarre event, had opened. This could quite possibly be the most earth-shattering event to happen to the galaxy since the discovery of the Mass Relays.

However, all thoughts of such things left her mind the moment her brain registered the prone figure laying on the ground and her instincts kicked in. Crouching at the still figure's body, Jane gently turned it over and she heard Garrus mirror her gasp of surprise.

The being that came out of the portal was what looked like a human woman in her early twenties. She had long hair that seemed devoid of color and unhealthily pale skin. Jane was relieved to notice that the woman was still breathing and quickly checked her pulse. She frowned when she felt the woman's erratic pulse.

Jane turned to her companion, "Garrus, scan her bio-signs."

The Turian was already ahead of her and had already powered up his omni-tool.

"Breathing is shallow and erratic. Heart-rate is through the roof. She seems to be in shock, Shepard. We should get her back to the-"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know anything about her." Wrex interrupted with an even tone.

"Well, we can't just leave her here to die!" Garrus argued back.

"Garrus is right, besides she did just come out of that portal, right? The entire galaxy is going to have a lot of questions and she's our only possible clue as to what the hell we just saw."

Wrex grunted but made no further argument.

Jane activated her com-link to the Normandy, "Pressly, do you read me? What's the Normandy's position?"

"Loud and clear, Commander. We landed in a clearing two kilometers to the West of your position."

"Right, get Chakwas on standby, we….got an injured with us."

"Roger that Commander."

* * *

Garrus had seen a lot of strange things in his life but this incident easily topped the list. A human female had fallen out of the portal that Shepard had probably opened. He silently prayed to the Spirits that this was not their fault. If the woman died because of their carelessness…

Banishing the thoughts from his mind as Shepard turned off the com-link and focused on them.

"We need to get her first out of here before one of those microbes gets in here."

Garrus nodded and pulled the woman onto her feet with one arm over his shoulder. She was rather light. Her body was mostly obscured by some kind of long-coat over what looked like light armor, but she was still shorter and thinner than Shepard. He noticed she was carrying two duffel bags and quickly mentioned Shepard to help him.

The Commander pulled the bags off the woman's shoulders and handed them to Wrex along with what looked like a ceremonial saber and a strange looking pistol. Together, the two of them dragged the woman back to the Mako and sealed the door before activating the decontamination protocol.

Shepard pulled out of the medical stretcher in the back of the tank and Garrus lowered the woman onto it.

"Wrex, get us back to the Normandy and try to keep us steady,"

The Krogan grunted as he placed the strange woman's belongings into one of the storage cabinets and stomped off to the operator's cabin.

Now that they were no longer in danger of their guest suffering a fatal allergic reaction to the planet's micro-organisms, Garrus popped off his helmet with a sigh. Now that the adrenaline rush of what they had witnessed was starting to die down, he felt the long day's event start to wear on him.

Sitting down on a seat across from the stretcher, he activated his omni-tool. Running a scan over her body to check for any more injuries, he frowned as the results returned as static.

The woman's strange outfit seemed to be blocking his medical scans. He had heard of the STG experimenting with technology that could block scans to aid in infiltration but that just made him more nervous. It meant that wherever this woman came from, they had technology which rivaled that of the Salarian's.

Garrus turned to his C-Sec training and analyzed the situation. Shepard was worried that they had accidently kidnapped this woman from her own world but Garrus was no longer so sure of that. The woman was armed, no matter how poorly it seemed, and carrying bags. She had probably been planning on going through the portal.

Now the question was, did she plan on coming here like this or did Shepard actually cause this?

Shepard sat down beside him with an exhausted groan and leaned back into the bench.

"Quite a day, "she muttered before turning to face him with a tired expression, "so what do you make of this, Garrus?"

"Honestly Shepard, I don't know what to think. She can't be from this galaxy or time or whatever. The design of her clothing and equipment are like nothing I've ever seen." He paused to ponder what he just said, "of course, that raises a whole lot of other questions that, frankly, I don't think we're qualified to ask. What's your game plan?"

"First, I want to make sure she's alright." Shepard replied, "she might be in this state because of what I did, and if that is the case, I want to do everything I can to help."

"Yea, that sounds like you," Garrus replied. Shepard had a rather naïve view of things that would normally annoy Garrus, but he had soon\found the Commander to be one of the few people he actually respected. She liked to do things by the book but when push came to shove, Garrus was surprised and pleased to see that she did the right thing regardless of the laws.

His old superiors at C-Sec were different. They followed the rules for its own sake instead of following the spirit behind it. The laws were supposed to protect the people. Garrus respected some laws and he refused to follow ones that he knew were wrong. Where the Executor would let a criminal escape because of political fallout, Garrus would have done the right thing.

"What are you going to tell the Council?"

Shepard groaned loudly before cupping her face in her hands.

"I think I'm just going to hold off on contacting them for now. At least until I figure out what the hell is going on. I want to learn everything I can before I have to contact those people. Meanwhile, I want you two to keep this thing under wraps for now. I don't want any too many crazy rumors flying around the ship."

Garrus smirked and nodded.

"Sounds like a good idea to me.

* * *

As the Mako finally passed through the kinetic barrier protecting the ship's cargo hold, Doctor Karin Chakwas was already waiting. Pressly had told her the Mako was bringing back someone injured. Karin hoped that it was nothing serious. The Commander's mission was dangerous enough, and the woman had a reckless, but heartwarming, impulse to put other people's health over her own. Karin just hopped that this altruism did not eventually cost Shepard her life. The galaxy was bleak enough that someone like her was rare.

Karin sighed in relief when the three occupants of the tank left the vehicle on their own. Confused, she was about to ask what was wrong when Shepard and Garrus carried a field stretcher between them with a humanoid figure laying on it. She immediately ran over to the prone figure and activated her omni-tool.

"Don't bother with that doctor," Garrus told her as they headed toward the lift. Ashley and Tali started to work on the Mako while Wrex dropped whatever he was carrying onto the equipment table.

Despite the Turian's advice, Karin still went ahead with the scan but frowned when it seemed to be blocked by something. Most likely the woman's clothing, Karin reasoned as she eyed her new patient. The human woman, and Karin was relatively sure of that, wore some kind of form-fitting light armor under a black long-coat. Her eyelids were fluttering like she was having some kind of nightmare. She had a thousand questions about the woman but she pushed such thoughts aside. It was not her concern. she only had to make sure her patients are well-cared for and healthy.

Karin quickly checked the woman's breathing, pulse and temperature.

"Her breathing is shallow and her heart-rate is on overdrive. She's also running a high fever."

Shepard looked at her with concern, "Will she be alright, doc?"

"It's too soon to tell. I need to get this armor off and run a more thorough scan before I can really know what's wrong with her. Do you know what caused this?"

"Long story short, no." Shepard rubbed the back of her neck before activating her com-link. "Pressly, I want a meeting of all senior officers in one hour."

"Roger that ma'ma."

* * *

When the elevator door finally opened the team quickly carried the woman into the med-bay. The crewmembers sitting around the mess hall all got up to see what the commotion was about.

Kaiden ran over from the equipment locker. "Ma'am, what's going on? Who is that?"

"I'll explain everything at the meeting, Kaiden." Jane replied before turning to the crew. "Alright people, the show's over! Nothing to see here!"

The small crowd dispersed and they entered the Med-Bay. Garrus transferred the woman to one of the beds. Chakwas activated all sorts of medical contraptions and started to prepare her medical scanner.

"Help me get her cloth off so I can get a more thorough scan of her body." The Doctor ordered as she struggled to take the woman's coat off.

"Umm…should I leave?" Garrus asked awkwardly as he averted his eyes.

Jane turned to him with a sly grin on her face and stared at him. The Turian started to fidget and scratch the back of his head. After a few seconds of watching him squirm, Shepard chuckled and slapped him on the back before turning her attention back to their guest.

"Yea, I think we can handle this ourselves. Go help them with the Mako."

"Right, I'll see you at the meeting then, I guess." Garrus sighed with oblivious relief and hurried out of the room.

Jane chuckled again as she turned back to see Chakwas finally get the coat off her patient. The woman seemed to be wearing some sort of light body armor that hugged her body.

Chakwas shook her head. "The scan is still being blocked. We need to get the armor off."

Jane inspected the armor and found that it was composed of numerous pieces of armor-plating attached to some sort of body suit. Searching around, Jane soon found various seals that seemed to hold the armor in place. With Chakwas' help, the two of them were able to completely remove the armor after about ten minutes of tinkering.

Chakwas ran the scan again but soon sighed and shook her head.

Jane grimaced, "well, this is going to be rather awkward when she wakes up."

* * *

Warrant Officer Andy Briggs labored away at his station in order to keep the ground team's weapons and armor at top quality. He was born on Elysium and joined the Alliance Navy after the Skyllian Blitz. To be serving under the command of the Heroine of Elysium herself was the greatest honor that had ever been given to him.

He did not care in the slightest that he was just a supply officer. The Commander had an amazing ability to make everyone who served with her feel important. The day that Shepard had taken command, she had made sure to speak with every single crew member on the Normandy. When he met face to face with his hero, he felt like he was in the presence of a legend. The mission was tough but he trusted Shepard with his life and knew she would not treat them as expandable.

Finishing up the last piece of equipment and stowing it in the locker, he was about to go back to his terminal and check the status of the resupply ships and private deliveries when something caught his attention.

The various strange objects and the two bags that the ground team had brought back sat on a table and he experienced a sudden urge to see what was inside. The Commander had told them to leave the stuff alone until further notice. He knew he should not disobey the Commander's orders but he seemed drawn to one of the bags.

No, he thought, I am a soldier of the Alliance and I will follow my orders.

But what harm is one little peek? Was he not his own man? Why should he slave away under the orders of that arrogant bitch while she claimed all the glory? He had grabbed a gun and fought the Batarians on Elysium as well. Why did he not gain galactic renown?

Andy was startled by the thoughts. What was he thinking? Commander Shepard was a hero. She was the complete opposite of arrogant and he knew she did not care about glory at all. She was a far better soldier and leader than he could hope to be.

But you deserve more in life than to clean that whore's boots all day. You work so hard and you get so little respect. They mock you behind your back. The harlot places more trust in that insane Krogan than she does you. See now? He is going to a private meeting with that wench while you toll away, unseen and unappreciated.

Turning his head, he saw that Lieutenant Adams and the Quarian were heading for the elevator. Williams and that Turian cop were leaving too.

Andy narrowed his eyes in anger as he saw the Krogan lumber to the elevator as well.

Yea, Andy slowly thought, yea he does deserve better.

What better way to assert your control than to disobey that mongrel's authority and do what your heart desires? Open the bag and see what is inside. You know you want to. Stop denying yourself. Have you not earned the right?

Beaming with pride at his new found strength and burning with resentment toward his superiors, Andy stormed to the bag with righteous fury and opened it.

The inside was covered in strange ribbons and papers. Andy flew into a rage at the sight of these pathetic objects. Digging deeper into the bag, his hand finally made contact with something. A feral smile spread across his face as he shoved the worthless papers aside to reveal more than a dozen books.

A particular one seemed to call out to him from bottom of the pile and he pulled it into the light. The ancient tome was-

_Wait_, Andy thought in confusion as he blinked to clear his eyes of a sudden distortion.

Looking back at the paperback novel he held in his hands, Andy chuckled at the title and cover of the apparent children's book.

_The monsters in your head – Kaos United, Inc._

The book had cute and colorful pictures of strange creatures dancing and playing around with people. Children held hands and formed circles as they followed the beautiful creatures in their dance. The people were singing with blissful expressions on their innocent faces. The room where they played was a magical wonderland, filled with strange flowers and a beautiful rainbow colored sky.

Enraptured by the heartwarming scenes depicted in the book, Andy laughed in pure joy and began to sing along with the lyrics written down and matched the dances of the children.


	5. Chapter 5

"Could you repeat that, Commander? I could have sworn you said 'she came through a portal.'"

Jane sighed and massaged her temples in an effort to keep her irritation in check. She knew this must sound absolutely ridiculous and she did not blame her team for having some serious doubts about what she said. She just hoped she would know a lot more about what exactly was going on when she has to report to the Council. She refused to give that smug Turian anymore ammunition against her.

"Yes, Joker, for the third time, yes, that is exactly what I said."

The pilot brought his hands up defensively, "alright, alright, just checking to make sure that I don't have broken ears now too…I'm sorry but did you just say-"

"Joker…" Kaiden warned the pilot with a stern expression and a smack to the back of the head.

"Alright, alright! Jeez…"

The entire room was silent as people glanced at each other and tried to wrap their minds around this turn of events. Jane did not envy anyone who tried to actually imagine what the possible ramifications of this event were. Her headache was bad enough, and the last time she tried, it only succeeded in making her head spin even more.

Kaiden eventually spoke up and asked the most important question. "Do we know where she came from and how?"

"I recorded some strange particle and radiation release when the portal opened." Garrus replied as he activated his omni-tool in order to show them a detailed analysis of the event.

"That…that can't be right!" Tali exclaimed as she moved closer and studied the sensor readouts.

"What do you mean?" Jane asked at what was perhaps their first real scientific insight into this bizarre event.

"I mean…I don't know…it just does not make sense…mathematically speaking, this particle should not exist."

"She's right, Commander," Engineer Adams stated as he narrowed his eyes, "it would be like taking 'one plus one' and getting three, or a triangle that has 190 degrees in it. It should be impossible."

"Keelah!" Tali exclaimed suddenly. "The particle seems to be changing its fundamental structure but somehow remaining the same!"

Tali turned to Jane with barely contained excitement. "Shepard! Please, I'm begging you! Let me send this data back to the Migrant Fleet! This could be potentially life changing!"

"You mean as part of your Pilgrimage?"

"Yes, my Father is a member of the Admiralty Board and…well…"

The girl fidgeted and stared at the floor as though embarrassed. Jane smiled and walked over to Tali before placing her hand on Quarian's shoulder.

"You have a lot to live up to, I understand," Jane told her and Tali meekly looked up.

Jane gave her a reassuring smile before continuing, "Of course you can have a copy."

Tali's body surged from her slumped posture into one of pure excitement, "Thank you, Shepard! You won't regret this! I promise!"

Jane grinned and patted the girl on her back, "Don't worry, I know I won't Tali, I trust you."

"Ahem," Pressly interrupted and Tali instantly seemed to shrink as she realized people were watching her.

The poor girl glanced around awkwardly before quickly walking to a corner of the room and taking a seat. Jane watched her sadly before turning to Pressly and glaring daggers at the man. While Jane trusted Pressly with her life and knew he meant well, she thought the man could quite an ass sometimes.

Garrus spoke up again to break the ice and Jane nodded in his direction for the quick save.

"To answer your original question, no and I doubt we'll learn much until our guest wakes up."

"Speaking of which," Jane spoke as she recalled something important, "Chakwas informed me that she managed to stabilize the patient and gave her a sedative to let her get some rest and recover. The Doc reckons that we'll be able to get some answers in the next twenty-four hours."

"Can we trust her?" Ashley asked as she narrowed her eyes. "What if she's dangerous? Maybe we should be keeping her under lockdown until we can be sure she's not here to kill us."

"We're not locking her up," Jane replied sternly, "there is a very good chance this entire thing is my fault. She has done nothing to warrant this treatment and I plan to give a good first…er…second impression."

Ashley's eyes widened and she quickly added, "That's not what I meant, Commander. I'm just pointing out that we don't know anything about her and her motives. We shouldn't be letting her run around on the ship."

"Noted, Gunnery Chief," Jane stated and Ashley instantly shut up. Jane immediately regretted her harsh treatment of the woman and smiled, "don't worry Ash, it's not like I plan to tell her all our darkest secrets. I just don't plan on throwing her into a cell."

Ashley returned a strained smile, "I understand ma'am, I was just advising caution."

"What do we know about their technology?" Kaiden asked after another moment of awkward silence.

"Not much, as far I could tell, she was wearing some kind of plated armor, not sure if it is powered or not, and had some sort of sensor-absorbing bodysuit underneath it. She was carrying a sword and a strange handgun, along with two bags and some trinkets. We got it stashed down in the Cargo Hold." Jane tried to recall what the woman was carrying when they found her. "Her armor did not have a kinetic barrier nor did we detect any Prothean-based technology."

Pressly frowned before asking, "So, does that mean she is more or less advanced than us?"

"Hard to say," Adams replied, "they could have made advancements in other fields. I'd have to check out her weapons and equipment before I can say for sure."

Tali shot up at that, "I'd like to help if….you'll let me…"

Jane smiled, "Loosen up, Tali, and yes, you can help. But, as a precaution, tell me what you're planning to send back to the Fleet ahead of time, please."

"Thank you again, Shepard! I will!"

"Now that is taken care of, I plan to return to the ruins before our guest wake up and try to get a better grasp on the situation-"

Suddenly, a commotion interrupted Jane and a second later, one of the CIC marines rushed into the room.

"Ma'am! Some crazy shit is going down in the Cargo Bay level and it's spreading into the crew level!"

* * *

Karin was checked the young woman's monitor again before returning to her console. The patient's erratic breathing and heart-rate had stabilized almost half an hour ago after Karin gave administered some medication. There was nothing physically wrong with the woman and Karin attributed the trauma to mental stress.

The woman had some strange brain activity that concerned Karin. She had never seen a brain as developed as the one her patient possessed. The woman's brain showed high activity in one section that ordinary humans did not employ. Karin was not sure whether it was due to genetic modification, natural evolution or some freak mutation. Maybe all of them to some degree, Karin mused.

Suddenly, she heard a commotion in the Mess Hall. Checking her patient quickly, Karin then moved to the door of the Med-Bay and looked outside. She stood, confused, as crew men ran for the stairs to the CIC with panic-stricken faces. Karin walked out of the Med-Bay and looked toward the Mess Hall. Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw.

A gang of three crew members was busy wrestling off-duty members in submission and then dragging them to the elevator. The gang-members were laughing hysterically and screaming strange words that made Karin want to vomit and felt like worms were stretching against her eardrums. Reaching to her ears by relax, she was startled to notice that they were starting to bleed.

As she slowly backed into the Med Bay, one of the gang-members seemed to noticed her and he turned in her direction. A look of madness filled his eyes and a big smile, which sent a wave of fear into Karin's heart, spread unnaturally far across his face.

"Heeeeey, Doctor! We found something amazing! You haaaave to see it!"

Karin backed into the Med Bay as the demented crewmen dropped their would-be victim, who immediately ran for the stairs, and started to skip and dance their way toward her. Karin screamed and sealed the Med-Bay doors.

* * *

Jane frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"People are going insane! They're dragging people they catch down to the Cargo Bay and…and…and when they come back up, they'd be insane too! They overwhelmed the guards on Deck Two and now the whole place is a nuthouse!"

The entire room stood in stunned silence, all except Wrex, who proceed to grunt before stomping toward the door.

Jane snapped back to her senses and called after him, "Wrex! Stand down! Remember what we agreed on back at the ruins?!"

The Krogan snared, "Fine, I did give you my word…"

"Thank you," Jane nodded before turning to the console and activating the Crew Deck security cameras.

The Crew Deck looked like a massive bar-brawl. Half a dozen crew-members were attacking other off-duty crew and dragging them down the elevator. Jane watched in stunned silence as one of the off-duty crew used a metal pipe and smashed it into the face of one of his friend's captors. The crazed man merely laughed before delivering a punch that sent the confused crew flying through the air.

Jane tried to cycle the camera to one in the Cargo Bay or Engineering but swore under her breath as none of the cameras registered as active. Switching back to the Crew Deck, Shepard noted that the majority of the crew was still fighting back against their crazed comrades and that their only appeared to be at most five hostiles.

"None of them seem armed," Garrus commented, "Orders, Shepard?"

"Alright people, use non-lethal force only. After we secure the Crew Deck, we'll head down to the Cargo Hold and see what the hell is going on."

Jane grimaced at the task before her. She had her Hurricane SMG and CQC weapons but she was not wearing her armor and neither were the demented crewmen. If she were to shoot them with the hand cannon, even in the legs, the gun would probably blow their limbs clean off. If the crew were armed, she would have only her biotic barriers to protect her.

Looking at her team, she quickly formulated a plan.

"Wrex and Garrus, you two have armor so you take the lead. Your job is to subdue any of the armed targets while Tali, Kaiden and I will follow behind you and provide support. Ashley, you stay here with the marines and guard the CIC."

"What?! But, Ma'am-"

"That's an order Ashley, and it's for your own good. You don't have any armor or biotic barriers. One lucky shot and you're gone. Do you understand what I'm saying, Ash? Stay. Here."

Ashley barely kept her face straight, and Jane noticed her clench her fists.

"Yes, Ma'am, I understand." She hissed.

Jane turned to her team.

"Move out."

* * *

Karin used her status as Chief Medical Officer of the Normandy to initiate a lockdown of the Med-Bay. A set of blast-doors slide down over the standard door and sealed with a hiss. Karin could hear the crazy crew-members slamming on the door in their efforts to get in.

"Doooooooctor! There's no need to be like this! It be soooo much more pleasant for you if you just come and seeeee!"

Karin backed to her desk and opened one of the cabinets before taking out something she had not used since retraining more than a decade ago. The Tempest SMG was the most popular weapon issued to naval officers after the standard Predator pistol. The gun was designed to wear down kinetic barriers and keep enemies pinned down by filling ship corridors with rounds too weak to penetrate the hull. The accuracy was non-existent and it had quite a kick, but in the close-confines of a starship, the gun was a perfect choice for non-marine personal.

Karin returned to her console and activated the com-link to the CIC. After a tense couple seconds of waiting, she breathed a sigh of relief as the line was picked up.

"Doctor Chakwas! Thank god you're all alright!"

Karin smiled sadly and replied, "I'm fine right now, Chief Williams. I managed to seal the Med-Bay. Our guest and I are safe for the time being."

"Just seat tight Ma'am, the Commander is on her way down right now."

"Good to know-"

*BANG*

"What the hell was that?!" Ashley exclaimed as Karin jerked her head toward the noise.

Her eyes widened in shock.

* * *

Tali followed Garrus down the steps along with Kaiden as Shepard and Wrex came down the opposite set of stairs. She was absent mindedly thinking about the events that had occurred today. She had a hard time believing that the human woman the Commander found was actually came through some kind of portal. It sounded like something out of a fictional story. Not real life.

Her thoughts drifted to the data stored in her omni-tool. She was giddy with excitement at what her father could use the discovery for. The particle defied the laws of the universe and opened up infinite possibilities. The ability to be able to get something from nothing had always been scientifically thought as impossible but now they had proof. Tali did not want to get her hopes up, but she secretly fantasized that her contribution to the Fleet would help her people retake their home world. Maybe even in her life-time.

She had promised Shepard that she would aid the SPECTRE in her quest, so she would have to postpone her triumphant return to the fleet by Ancestors know how long. She was conflicted. On one hand, she could present the Board with the greatest scientific discovery of the past millennium when she returned, which would guarantee her a post on any ship she wanted.

However, this discovery was so monumental that she was sorely tempted to send a copy back to her father immediately. The portal-woman had brought a lot of other pieces of strange technology with her, maybe Tali could return to the Flotilla with one of those instead.

Her mind made up, Tali quickly activated her omni-tool. She wrote a short message addressed to her father and attached the data before sending it on a channel used for urgent Flotilla messages. She could not wait to hear back from him on the possible uses of this magnificent new discovery!

She was drawn out of her musing as the two teams meet back up on the Crew Deck. Tali checked her shields and loaded up her tech-attack suite on her omni-tool. She had left her trusty Piranha back in the Cargo Bay so she was only armed with her Phalanx. However, she left it on her belt because Shepard had told them to only subdue the crazy crew.

Tali did not want to hurt her shipmates. The people in Engineering had all been extremely kind to her and the thought of killing them made her feel sick. She did not know what had caused this mania. When she left for the meeting with Chief Engineer Adams, the crew had all been fine. Tali prayed to the Ancestors that nothing bad happened to her friends down in Engineering, but she had a sinking feeling that she was to be disappointed.

Ashley's voice sounded through her com-link, "Commander, Doctor Chakwas has sealed herself and that woman you found in the Med Bay. I think she could use some help because the link was suddenly broken."

"Roger that Ash, can you give me a rundown of what the cameras show?"

"Yes Ma'am. I see only three of the crazies left on that the deck. The other two dragged the left normal crew down the elevator a few seconds ago."

Tali's hope rose. Maybe the people in Engineering managed to seal their door?

Then they turned the corner and Tali's hope plummeted.

"KEELAH!" She shrieked in alarm at the sight before them.

* * *

"Wow that is rather impressive. What do you humans eat?"

Garrus stared in amazement as three massive crewmen proceeded to rip apart the reinforced blast-door protecting the Med-Bay with their bare hands.

"Come out, come out, Doctor! Come and seeeeee what we fooooound or we'll come and geeeeeeeeet you!"

"Ahem! Gentlement?" Shepard announced and blue biotic powers flared around her body. "I think you should leave that door alone."

The three demented crew stopped and turned to face the team. Garrus turned to look at Shepard.

"I'm no expert on the human body Shepard so I'm not sure if being bigger than a Krogan is normal, but I don't think you're supposed to have horns. Or that many eyes. Or tongues that long. I could be wrong, though. Don't take offense if I am."

Shepard seemed stunned for a second but snapped out of it when the three mutated crew-men gave a bone-chilling roar and charged the team.

"Take them down gently! No casualties unless absolutely necessary!"

Garrus immediately activated his omni-tool and sent a blast of electricity into the charging monsters. The first beast took the Overload in the chest and the blast bounced to hit the entire group. One of the monsters faltered in his charge and fell onto his disgusting face and was immediately trampled by the over two.

As they got closer, Garrus got a better look at the demented crewmembers and snarled in disgust and horror. They could no longer even be considered human, and by the look of the reckless charge, they were no longer even intelligent enough to have any sense of self-preservation or loyalty. All three of the creatures had long claws and pincers where their hands were supposed to be. Their faces were nightmarish with distorted features like extra eyes, fangs and tentacle-like tongues.

The creatures' bodies were covered in cords of red muscle fiber and their flesh looked like that of a Vorcha. Garrus growled as he saw that one of the beasts had a second set of mutated and disfigured arms on its chest, each ending in tentacles.

Kaiden raised his hand and threw a sphere of biotic energy at one of the creatures. The biotic field enveloped the target and the creature floated into the air with a bellow of rage as it swiped its talons futilely at the team.

The remaining creature charged into melee range and drew back its right talon to cut Garrus in half. However, the beast suddenly staggered back a step as Wrex slammed into it with a biotic charge. While a normal human had have been instantly knockout or worse by the conclusive force of the massive Battlemaster's charge, the mutated crew-member merely roared in anger and backhanded the Krogan.

Garrus watched, stunned, as Wrex screamed in rage and surprise as he was sent flying through air to crash into the mess table. The blow had went straight through his shields and biotic barrier, and Garrus saw that the armor where the creature had struck Wrex was crumpled in like plastic.

A growl drew his attention and he cursed the Spirits as the first monster's broken body start to regenerate into an even more abominable form. Tentacles emerged all over its body with disgusting sounds of ripping flesh and snapping bones.

"Weapons free!"

Garrus immediately pulled out his Phaeston and squeezed a burst into the legs of the creature which had tossed Wrex aside. The mutant dropped to his kneels as the bullets tore through its legs. Its face contorted into an expression, not of pain, but anger and it howled like a wounded animal. The crippled creature started to crawl towards the team.

"Shepard! Orders?" Garrus shouted as the creature slowly approached them.

"Alright, take them down!"

Garrus shifted his aim toward the other mutated monster as it finally rose to its feet. Garrus sighted down his rifle and pulled the trigger. A torrent of rounds tore into the creature's chest, but Garrus' eyes widened in disbelief as the beast ignored the bullets, then simply roared and charged.

Reacting fast, he activated his gun's grenade launcher and fired a concussion grenade at the charging monstrosity. The blast impacted with the beast's chest and stopped its charge dead in its tracks. The beast staggered back, dazed, and gave Garrus the time he needed to line up another shot. Rounds tore into the thing's face and its ugly face exploded in a shower of gore. Amazingly, the thing stumbled around and flailed its blade-tentacles until Tali activated her omni-tool and engulfed the body in flames. The thing somehow managed to scream in pain without a mouth before dying out with the fires.

Suddenly, a tentacle snapped through the air and Garrus barely had time to dodge out of the way before the thing could cleave him in half. The crawling abomination was now skittering across the floor on two sets of insectoid claws. The thing swiped at him again and he tried to leap to the side in order to avoid its deadly blades.

Tali was starting to fire into the thing's chest with her pistol but that only served to agitate it as it turned its attention to her. Suddenly, it was knocked onto its back as Wrex charged into it again. The blood-crazed Krogan started to hammer his shotgun's bayonet into the thing's face, again and again. The thing refused to go down without a fight, and it raised a second set of claws to impale the Battlemaster.

Garrus and Tali immediately opened fire on the claws and soon reduced them to shredded flesh and bone as Wrex continued to smash apart the beast's face. Seeming to calm down, the Battlemaster pumped his shotgun and fired a high-explosive carnage round into the thing's brain. The resulting explosion ripped the beast's head into tiny pieces and rained brain-matter across the room. The beast's body continued to trashed around before Wrex planted his foot on its chest and put two more carnage rounds into it.

That just left the final creature. Garrus quickly scanned the room and what he saw amazed him.

Shepard was holding it off by herself, using nothing more than two monomolecular swords and dancing around the beast's frenzied attacks. The enraged creature swung its blades faster than Garrus' eyes could see but the Commander nimbly dodged or blocked every strike. The creature screamed in anger at its inability to kill its enemy. It spourted another set of claws with a disgusting sound of ripping muscles and tried to catch the Commander in a pincer attack. Fortunately, Shepard saw it coming and disappeared in a flash of biotic energy to reappear an instant later behind the creature.

Kaiden tried to hit it with another biotic lift but the thing merely roared and broke out of the field. However, the split second it was contained gave Shepard the time she needed to swipe her swords in a dazzling flurry that severed all of the thing's limbs.

The mutated crewman crashed to the ground with a roar of outrage as it flailed around, trying to bite Shepard with a massive maw filled with fangs. The Commander merely ran some biotic energy through her blades to dislodge the blood and chunks of flesh clinging to them with a look of grim determination on her face. The limbless monster tried to grow more arms but Kaiden blasted it with a jet of cryogenic gases and froze it. Shepard than charged her blade with biotic power before slashing down at the frozen beast and grimaced as it shattered into a thousand pieces.

Shepard turned toward the rest of the team with a expression that was best described as a mixture of pain and anger.

"Alright, I want to know how the fuck this happened!"

* * *

Karin peeked out from behind the bed she had taken cover behind as the noise finally died down. She ran over to the door and shouted, "Commander! Can you hear me?"

A moment of silence passed, and Karin grew worried. What if the crew had managed to subdue the team? Karin instantly banished the ridiculous thought and repeated herself, louder this time. A wave of relief washed over her at the answer.

"Doctor! Are you alright? The Crew Deck is cleared! We need you out here, now!"

Karin moved to her console in order to lift the lockdown. She let out the breath that she did not know she was holding and sighed in relief.

However, a error message appeared on her console and Karin frowned. She returned to the door and inspected it. Sure enough, the door was critically damaged and sparks flew from the door mechanism as Karin tried to manually unlock it.

"Commander! The door is jammed, I can't open it!"

She thought she heard cursing before Shepard responsed.

"Alright, Doctor. Just sit tight. We'll go clear out the rest of the ship and then get some cutting equipment up to get you out. How is our guest?"

"She was fine when I last checked, hang on!"

Karin turned around and blinked in surprise.

She was staring down the barrel of her own gun.

* * *

AN: Why give Shepard a sword? Because it's WH40K and all the awesome people use swords. Yes there will be a sword fight between Shepard and Kai Leng


	6. Chapter 6

**AN**: Sorry for the long wait but this is the first chapter that I had to write completely from scrap since I published the story. The others were all written or outlined. I also took some more time to proof read as advised by Eipok (thanks for the feedback) and if it's still terrible, I'll see about getting a beta.

Guest: If you think 10k is a big number, then I got some bad news for you regarding Ordo Mallus standard cleanup procedure. The fact that they commandeered a destroyed ship and used morally-questionable methods to get the crew back on its feet might be as seen as a rather twisted sense of mercy considering the alternative of requisitioning command of an active ship.

Metalking: I thought about that too because I actually searched for some playthrough videos of the Normandy SR1 interior, since I don't have the first one installed atm. However, the mess hall is rather open if you take out the dining table.

* * *

Killian awoke to a feeling of absolute misery and confusion. The last thing she remembered was exiting the portal right before a suppression-field activated. The situation had not been correctly anticipated by the team. Killian had, rather naively, assumed that they would emerge onto a pristine garden world. Looking back, she reprimanded herself for this astronomical blunder in judgment. She was the retinue's warp-expert. Her team-mates depended on her to protect them against the insidious powers of the Immaterium. Any mistake on her part could have dire repercussions for not just the expedition, but the entire Imperium.

While her mind was still a wreck, her psychic barriers had never faltered due to over a decade of mental indoctrination and training. Taking stock of the situation, Killian realized that something must have taken her out of the suppression-field or she would be dead. The after-effects still hung over her mind like a sheet of dull pain whenever she tried to concentrate. Had she lingered in the field, she would have suffered crippling brain damage at best.

That only led to the question of who had saved her.

Careful to keep up the appearance that she was still unconscious, Killian expanded her mind to scout out her surroundings. She immediately winced with intense pain as the effort caused daggers to slice into her mind and she quickly refocused all her attention on keeping from crying out in distress. While the agony was blindingly intense, possibly even fatal to a normal human, Killian had endured much worse during her training. She began to build a barrier of iron discipline around her mind and worked to block out the pain.

After what seemed like an eternality of mind-searing agony, Killian managed finally managed to work through the pain until it had subsided to nothing more than an extremely uncomfortable headache. Finally managing to regain some semblance of coherent thought, Killian, once again, tried to slowly expand her consciousness lest the pain overwhelm her once more. Not yet welling to risk herself to the perils of the warp, Killian settled for scanning her immediate surroundings.

As her psionic essence left her body, the first thing she noticed was how calm the Warp was. Killian's confidence grew as her theory about the pristine nature of this universe seemed to have some bases in reality. The grip of Chaos was weak. The warp currents were stable. The only time she knew of that boasted this level of stability was during the Dark Age of Technology, when Mankind was at its apex. The thought of possibly encountering the wonders of that age sent a pulse of excitement through her body. Even if the Emperor did not exist, the technologies they could recover could turn the tide in the Imperium's favor.

Unfortunately, she still knew next to nothing about what happened after she came through the portal. It would be rather depressing if she were about to be eaten by some xeno monstrosity on the eve of her triumph. She first turned to inspect her body. Killian saw that she had been stripped out of her body-glove and put into some sort of gown. She did not appear to have been injured, nor was she restrained in anyway. Killian frowned at that. This either meant the beings who found her were dangerously naïve and trusting, or arrogant behind all reason, thinking that someone such as her posed no threat.

They were going to learn that a gamma-level psyker of the Ordos was not someone to be underestimated.

Expanding her awareness further, Killian noted that she was lying in a small room. The place looked like some kind of lab. Numerous arcane devices were placed around her bed and her head had been fitted into an alcove in a huge machine. They were probably either experimenting on her or plan to torture her for information when she awoke.

Checking about the room, Killian noted words painted on the walls and devices surrounding her. She experienced a vague sense of recognition but the exact instance eluded her. Frustrated, she delved into her memories, fishing for any possible clue that might help her understand her current situation. Eventually, she stumbled upon a memory from her years on Holy Terra at the Inquisition Fortress hidden in the Southern Wastelands.

It was from an obscure dialect of Old Earth as seen in one of the few surviving relics from that forgotten age. The blasphemous works of a mad man created during humanity's first expeditions into space. How anyone could stomach the idea of mating with xenos was beyond Killian's comprehension. Sure, they might have similar facial structure and body type, but then so do apes and Killian was not peculiarly inclined to find a primate sexually attractive. The Ordo Xenos liked to preach that this work was proof of the horrors of the Dark Age of Technology, but nobody actually cared what they said, anyway.

The fools in the Ordo Xenos love to brag about all the 'glorious' works they perform in service to the God Emperor, but everyone else knew the truth. While the idiots were busy purging teenager with xenophilia and farmers using Tau lawn-mowers, the Ordo Mallus was busy keeping the Imperium from being overrun by daemons.

Realizing she was getting sidetracked, she returned her attention back to attempting to decipher the ancient language. After what seemed like a frustrating eternality, she finally gave up and acknowledged the fact that she could not actually understand what the words meant. Just because she studied a translated heretical text and saw pictures of the original did not mean she understood a similar language. Fortunately, the presence of the words themselves was comforting. It meant that she was in a universe at least somewhat related to the Imperium and that humans had existed here.

Maybe.

It was very possible that xenos had taken control of this location after it was abandoned, or they captured it during war. A worse possibility is that they were chaos worshippers.

Killian immediately checked her mind for any sign of corruption. She had not realized just how dangerous of a situation she was in. If she was captured by the servants of the Warp, the knowledge she held could place countless worlds at risk. If she was possessed by a daemon and sent back to infiltrate the Imperium, would she even know she was a walking abomination?

_NO_, she told herself. _Doubt leads to heresy. Her faith is strong. The servants of Him on Earth are ever vigilant._

No matter how cunning a daemon was, there was absolutely no way it could deceive her team. The Inquisitor had been hunting the spawn of chaos decades before she was even born. His knowledge of the warp surpassed hers by far and she learned everything she knew from him.

Managing to claim her mind, Killian once again expanded her senses and froze at what she found.

A human woman was sitting in the room.

Killian could sense that the woman was devoid of chaos corruption and her mood immediately brightened. Humans existed in this universe and were not corrupted by Chaos! These people were obliviously advanced. The amount of knowledge they could gain was staggering. However, she still had to be cautious. There were numerous rebel systems in the Imperium who had forsaken their roots due to selfish reasons without the manipulation of Chaos. The only way to confirm these people's character was to learn more about them.

Killian lightly brushed against the woman's mind. Not surprisingly, the thoughts were in a language which she did not understand. Delving deeper into the woman's memories, Killian began to shift through them gently in order to avoid giving the woman permanent brain damage.

After a while, Killian had gained a small rudimentary understanding of the language and the person she was reading. Her name was Major Karin Chakwas and she served as chief medicae of the warship Normandy. The other details were confusing and Killian needed more time to process them. She learned that the words she had wasted so much time inspecting was some kind of operating warning but she was still unsure what the device did.

Killian debated whether she should reveal herself but quickly decided against it. This Karin Chakwas did not appear to realize Killian was going through all her knowledge and secrets. The more Killian can learn about these people and universe, the more prepared she would be when interacting with them.

Her current plan was to learn everything she could from this woman before moving to do the same with the other crew. Once she learned everything she could, she would attempt to return to the portal and report in. She toyed with the idea of simply mind-controlling the crew into taking her back and then forcing them to submit to the Inquisition for processing but decided against it for now. She was still unsure about much of this universe and she could not afford to exhaust herself like that. Despite how calm the warp was here, use of that much power would still draw attention to her. She would be easily detected by daemons and hostile psykers and she was not sure she had the strength to fend them off.

Suddenly, a flare of warp energy startled her and Killian mentally scolded herself for being so careless. She was starting to gain a disturbing pattern of recklessness. It was foolish of her to start syphoning information from the woman without thoroughly scanning the area. One of these days, a mistake was going to catch up and get her killed or worse.

Withdrawing from the woman's mind, Killian expanded her consciousness over the entire ship and immediately cursed at what she felt.

The fools had left her books in the open! They had not taken any precaution against the malevolent influences of the corrupted tomes! How could they be so naïve? How could a spacefaring civilization be so clueless concerning the perils of the Warp? Their behavior seemed like the people here had never-

Killian was stunned as realization set in. These people left dangerous warp-touched objects lying around and treated a Gamma-Level Psyker as a regular human. These people had no knowledge of the Warp.

Killian shuddered with fear at what this could mean. These people were defenseless against the corruption of the Immaterium. The only reason they had not been wiped out was the calm nature of the warp here. It was just like the Dark Age of Technology. Humanity had the technological maturity unmatched by most species but lacked the spiritual discipline. In the end, that lack of mental strength was what led to humanity's downfall. Humanity was still young in this universe, young and dangerously naïve.

She could exploit that.

Killian was suddenly drawn out of her plotting as something crashed against the door of the room. She could sense the evils of the warp on the other side. It must have been those fools who were corrupted by one of her books. The Inquisition had sealed those things away for a reason and Killian had assumed that any smart person would stay away from the bag filled with protection runes and purity seals. Apparently, not if they had no idea what any of that stuff was.

The Chaos Spawn slammed against the door again and Killian could feel alarm and fear radiate off the woman in waves.

This complicated things.

She had to save these fools before they were all consumed by the Ruinous Powers. The damage would not be limited to this ship. This entire galaxy could potentially be put at risk if Chaos managed to subvert a well-placed leader. Killian had seen the Purge of Charno IV first hand. The planetary governor had begged them for an explanation of the invasion even as he shambled toward the team on more than twenty claws and cried for mercy with five maws. The man had turned the very streets of the hiveworld into living icons of chaos, without the population even knowing they were living on a soon-to-be Daemon-World. An entire squad of Grey Knights and five regiments of Imperial Guard had been lost before the Inquisition finally declared Exterminatus on the planet.

The cause? The Governor had bought some tea from another planet, which had had been grown by a small chaos cult.

Killian was still an Explicator at the time and it was the first exterminatus she witnessed, but it was far from the last. She had watched the planet burn beneath her on board a Black Ship. She could hear the planet literally scream in agony from orbit as a cyclonic torpedo impacted with the massive eye that had formed from the ruins of the primary hive.

She had to purge this ship before Chaos could spread or the same could happen to every world in this galaxy.

Unfortunately that carried other problems. It would be hard to establish relations with another human civilization by killing the first ones she met. That meant she was going to have to help them destroy the Spawn and pray to the Emperor that she could detect any residue corruption.

But what if they were hostile? She was being too naïve again, Killian chided herself. She was about to stumble into another mistake. There was no telling what these people planned to do to her. Even if they did not plan to torture her, it was doubtful that they would be naïve enough to not extort her for information. Given that her weapons and armor were gone-

Killian suddenly realized something. The people were not fools! They must have deliberately gone through all her possessions in order to learn about Imperial technology. They were not to be trusted.

Killian was so lost in her musings that she barely noticed the woman start shouting to her shipmates outside. The door must have been damaged because she tried to pry it open but it failed to move. Killian scanned the outside and was shocked to see that all the Chaos Spawn on this level had been taken care off.

"How's our guest?"

Killian froze. They were taking about her. She had to do something. She could mind control the leader but she knew nothing about them and would only be able to get them to fight each other. That would normally work fine, but she was practically naked and one shot was all it would take to kill her. But she could not just sit still or she would be forced to negotiate from a position of weakness. She would be at their mercy and even her powers made it far too risky.

No, it was safer to just play pretend and lie her way through this.

Killian opened her eyes and saw that the woman had left her gun unattended on the desk. A foolish risk, even if Killian was not here, since soldiers should always be armed.

Silently pushing herself to her feet, Killian crept to the table and picked up the gun.

* * *

Karin stared at the woman holding the gun on her.

The poor girl was absolutely terrified. Her hands were shaking so hard she could barely keep the gun up. Her eyes were wide with panic and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

Karin tried to put on the most calming face she could muster and smiled at the woman.

"Hello, my dear, do you know where you are? This is a medical facility." Karin waved her arms to indict the room. Then she pointed to herself. "My name is Doctor Chakwas. Can you tell me your name?"

The woman hesitated for a few seconds before replying in a trembling voice, "Killian".

She had a strange accent and spoke like she did not really understand the language. Karin supposed it was reasonable, perhaps even amazing, that the woman understood her at all. She looked extremely confused and Karin could easily see why. She had most likely suffered some trauma during the transit and now she had woken up naked in a strange place with strangers.

Karin tried her best to calm the woman down even as her unsteady hand came dangerously close to pulling the trigger.

"Well Killian, would you mind putting that gun down for me? It is very dangerous. I swear that we have no intention of harming you. We were the ones who found you and brought you here for help."

Killian seemed to calm down slightly and the gun lowered enough that it was no longer pointing straight at Karin's face, which could count as an improvement. Karin mentioned toward the door.

"Can I talk to my friends? We just want to make sure everyone is safe."

Killian gave her a hesitant nod and Chakwas returned the favor with her most reassuring smile before turning to the door and calling out.

"Commander! Our guest has awoken up!"

"What?! Are you alright, Doctor?!"

"Don't worry, Commander. She's just extremely confused and scared. She barely understands our language. How long do you expect it will be before you can get the door open?"

Karin decided it was best not to worry the Commander with the fact that a potentially mentally unstable woman was holding her at gun point. It would just color the situation and make everything else wose. She was confident she could reason with the girl and calm her down.

"Not sure, Doc. There is some….really, really weird crap going on that I would like our guest to explain if possible."

Karin grimaced. "The situation is a little complicated right now, Shepard. I suggest you secure the ship and then you can ask her anything you want yourself."

A slight pause before Shepard replied. "Alright Doc, just sit tight and learn everything you can. This will probably go down in the history books so don't make me look bad, okay?"

Karin laughed at that before turning her attention back to her patient.

The woman was staring at her like she was afraid Karin was going to bite her.

"It's alright, the Commander will get everything sorted out."

"Am I a prisoner?"

That question caught Karin off-guard but she quickly composed herself before replying.

"No, no! We only brought you here to treat you. I'm sure the Commander has no reason to keep you here. She is an honorable woman and you are in good hands."

Killian glanced to the side, probably contemplating the situation, before turning her attention back to Karin.

"Where are my things?"

Karin smiled and walked to Killian's bed. She noted with relief that the girl was no longer pointing the gun at her. Karin opened the footlocker under the bed and took out the armor and bodysuit that she and Shepard had struggled to get off less than an hour ago. She turned back to Killian to notice that the young woman had sat down on one of the beds and closed her eyes in exhaustion. Karin also noticed that Killian had put the gun down on the adjunct bed.

Karin hesitated. It would be so easy to throw the bundle of armor into the woman's face and then grab the gun.

And then do what? She asked herself. She was not in immediate risk now and she had gained the woman's trust enough for her to put the gun down and relax. She refused to break the trust of her patients. It was not her duty to keep prisoners. Her job was to make sure people were in good health. Besides, the girl was just understandably confused and scared. It would be much more beneficial to both civilizations were first-contact peaceful.

So Karin walked back to the woman and placed the armor down on the bed next to the gun.

Killian opened her eyes and gave Karin a nervous smile and a nod of thanks before she started to dig through her things. She frowned and turned back to Karin.

"What happened to my other possessions?"

"I'm sorry, but the other things were not stored here. I presume the Commander will know where they are and will give them back as soon as she can. As you can see, the door is broken. The crew is trying to get a situation under control and then rescue us."

"What kind of situation?"

Karin hesitated before she answered honestly.

"I'm not really sure and there's not much we can do from here anyway. So, I suggest you get some rest before the Commander comes back and gets the door open. I'm sure you'll have as many questions for us as we do for you."

Killian seemed to ignore her suggestion and started to strip out of her medical gown. Karin averted her eyes and returned to her console.

* * *

**AN**: There you go, hope you enjoyed this. Next chapter will have more action.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN**: Haven't decided on a LI yet. I'm leaning toward Garrus but tell me what you guys think.

* * *

"What now, Shepard?"

Jane glanced at Garrus as the team formed up around her. Honestly? She was not sure what to do. The sight of what happened to her men shook her up pretty badly. She had seen some bad things on Eden Prime, but what just occurred in front of her was something that she simply could not comprehend. Was it some kind of virus? Radiation?

She had never seen anything like it, but then again, today was shaping up to be one of those days where everything changed. Jane was pretty sure that it was no coincidence this happened right after they encountered that portal.

Looking around, she grimaced as she saw that not much of the mutated crewmen could be recover and studied, not to mention buried. She could not see Alliance Intel letting this incident get out to the public. Jane cursed as she already knew the families were going to be stonewalled when they try to find out how their loved ones died. She wanted to throw out the regulations and tell them herself, but she was honestly not sure whether it would be kinder to spare them the details.

Turning to her team, Jane tried to keep the distress off her face as she gave them their orders.

"Gather up all the remains and see if you can find out anything. Wrex, you alright?"

Wrex grunted before replying.

"Nothing a little Medi-gel can't handle."

"Good, then you can help Garrus secure the deck and make sure there's nothing hiding somewhere."

"Will do, Shepard." Garrus replied as the two began to patrol the deck and check all the places where survivors, friendly or otherwise, could hide.

Jane quickly checked her room to make sure everything was secured before returning to the Med-Bay just in time to hear a faint banging on the wrecked door. She quickly unfolded her Hurricane and slowly approached the blast-doors.

"-hear me, Commander?!"

Jane let out a sigh of relief and ran to the door.

"Doctor! Are you alright? The Crew Deck is cleared! We need you out here, now!"

After a tense minute, Chakwas replied.

"Commander! The door is jammed, I can't open it!"

Jane cursed at that.

"Tali! Get over here and see if you can get this door open!"

The Quarian ran over from near the broken table and activated her omni-tool. She tapped ferociously at the interface for a few seconds before turning toward Jane with a sad shake of her head.

"I'm sorry Shepard but the door is physical jammed. It was designed this way so that people can't force their way into a quarantine zone."

Jane cursed under breath before replying.

"No need to apologize, it just means we'll have to bust this door down."

Tali fidgeted for a second before speaking up.

"Shepard, I doubt we have anything strong enough to break this bulkhead. Without the proper cutting tools, it'll probably be easier to blast a hole through the wall instead of blasting through that door."

"Do we have the proper equipment to get it open?"

The girl thought for a second before nodding.

"Yes, I remember some high-powered cutting torches in the Cargo Bay."

Jane swore again before turning to the door.

"Alright, Doctor. Just sit tight. We'll go clear out the rest of the ship and then get some cutting equipment up to get you out. How is our guest?"

"She was fine when I last check. Hang on!"

While Chakwas was checking on her patient, Jane opened a com-link to the team.

"Status report."

Kaiden was the first to respond.

"I managed to gather up all the remains, but it's not looking good, ma'am. They're already starting to break down. Most the smaller pieces are gone already and the larger ones are liquefying."

Jane groaned and pinched the bridge of her noise in frustration.

"Alright, do what you can. What about you, Garrus? Find anything?"

"Good news, Shepard. We found two more survivors who were hiding in a maintenance shift. They're scared but seem otherwise normal. The rest had gotten up to the CIC in time."

Jane let out a sigh of relief.

"Pressly, can you do a head count for me? We took out three…crazed crewmen and rescued two survivors, how many are still unaccounted for?"

The team waited in hushed anxiety for a few seconds before Pressly finally responded.

"If you count out the pair you just rescued and Doctor Chakwas, we're still missing four men."

Jane cursed silently at that. That meant four more of those potential monsters waiting for the team down in the Cargo Hold. They also still do not know what is causing this. Jane just knew that whatever is happening started in the Cargo Bay. Unfortunately, they had no idea what was down there. They could be ambushed as soon as the elevator door opened. She needed answers before putting her people at risk.

Suddenly, Chakwas' voice sounded through the bulkhead and the team froze.

"Commander! Our guest has woken up!"

Everyone was silent and looked to Jane. She was dumbfounded for second. The events of today were starting to catch up to her and she realized that her mind was so exhausted right now she was no longer operating at peak efficiency. There were simply too many strange turn of events for her to handle properly. The thoughts about what to do with the strange woman had almost completely slipped her mind during the firefight.

"What?! Are you alright, Doctor?!"

She thought the woman would wake up in a far more controlled situation. This was absolutely the worst time possible. Chakwas was sealed in with her and they had not restrained her. Jane cursed herself for her lack of foresight.

"Don't worry, Commander. She's just extremely confused and scared. She barely understands our language. How long do you expect it will be before you can get the door open?"

Jane sighed with relief. Finally, some good news! Chakwas was safe and that woman could somehow speak their language. Jane did not want to try and understand how that was possible since her headache was bad enough already. She was only relieved that a language barrier would not be too hard to overcome. She needed to know what was going on and that woman was their only lead.

"Not sure, Doc. There is some….really, really weird crap going on that I would like our guest to explain if possible."

"The situation is a little complicated right now, Shepard. I suggest you secure the ship and then you can ask her anything you want yourself."

"When are things ever not complicated," Jane muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, Jane's omni-tool flashed with the indication of an incoming message. Jane frowned when she saw that it was from Joker.

_Great_, she thought_, more bad news._

"Alright, hit me, Joker."

"Commander, I don't mean to bother you or anything like that, but if you can spare the time, could you check on the Engine Room for me? That'd be great, thanks."

Jane cupped her face in her hands and sighed before replying.

"Let me guess, they rigged the drive core to blow and we have ten minutes until it goes critical?"

"It's your lucky day, Commander, you actually have almost fifteen minutes before it melts down and turns us all into atomic vapor."

"Lucky me, better get everyone else off the ship." Jane deadpanned before turning toward her now assembled team.

"Alright, let's save the ship."

Jane returned her attention back to the Med-Bay door.

"Alright Doc, just sit tight and learn everything you can. This will probably go down in the history books so don't make me look bad, okay?"

* * *

As the team started to squeeze into the elevator, Tali prepared herself to face anything. Those creatures had been unlike anything she had ever seen. They seemed to be able to expand and change their bodies as the situation demands. The creature without legs would soon grow claws to move with. Creatures without heads would start to grow another one. She did not understand where they were getting the mass and energy to do this.

It must have something to do with those particles. She had detected trace amounts of those strange particles as the creatures began to change. It was amazing how much power even a little bit could generate. It was obliviously dangerous but Shepard, Garrus and Wrex proved that exposure was not what caused the dementia. If it could be harnessed, the Fleet's energy crisis would be over.

Tali's mind was still filled with grand visions of what could be accomplished as the door slowly lowered and they got their first view of the Cargo Bay.

The place was pretty much the same as Tali remembered it. In fact, if she did not know better, she would have thought nothing was wrong at all. She still held out hope that the other engineers were safe but she knew it was foolish to think them survived.

The team had been worried that they would be caught in the open when the elevator doors opened but, so far, their fears were unfounded. Tali unfolded her pistol anyway and activated her omni-tool.

Shepard waved Wrex and Garrus to forward to cover the two entrances to the engine room while she mentioned for Kaiden and Tali to follow her into the Cargo Hold proper.

The place was quiet and that made Tali uneasy. She realized that she did not like quiet. It was always so loud on the Flotilla and she suddenly realized she really missed the comforting presence of other people. The Normandy was a small ship compared to the massive Rayya and Tali sorely missed being able to visit the Hydroponics farm at the core of her birth vessel. It was like a park that she could visit in order to calm her mind. She recalled going there with her mother while she was still a child.

In contrast, the Normandy Cargo Bay seemed like a deathtrap just waiting to spring on them. The horrible creatures that they encountered on the upper level were like something out of a nightmare. Tali cycled through her helmet's various view-modes but could detect nothing. That meant they were either all hiding in the engine room and plan to die when the ship exploded or they were still hiding here.

Then an idea formed in Tali's head.

"Shepard! Those creatures emitted small amounts of that strange particle we talked about. I think I might be able to configure my omni-tool to scan for any source nearby."

Shepard turned to look at her with a smile.

"Good thinking, Tali. Do it and tell me what you see."

Tali nodded enthusiastically and began to enter the particle's signature into her omni-tool. After a few minutes, she activated the program and linked it to her HUD.

"Keelah…."

The entire room seemed to be filled with the particles. The greatest concentration was coming from a table near the supply lockers and the Engine Room. Tali watched, mesmerized, as the particles seemed to dance-

"Tali!"

The shout startled Tali out of her trance and she looked around in confusion. She had moved to a table where some strange things were being held. Two bags and some other trinkets. She had not even noticed herself moving this close to the table. Tali shook her head and the haze that seemed to have dropped over her vision slowly disappeared. She thought she heard a cry of outrage through the wind but decided it was her anxiety playing tricks on her mind.

"I'm alright, Shepard," Tali replied weakly as she shook off the last bit of confusion and refocused on her task. "I just got caught up in my thoughts for a second."

She mentioned toward to the table and then toward the Engine Room.

"The particles seem to be concentrated here and in the Engine Room. I think the items are heavily saturated in those particles and the engine room…well…"

She nearly choked on the thoughts of her friends. Engineers Scott and Tores had been so nice to her. They did their best to help her understand the ship even though Tali knew they had no reason to trust her. They ate together in the Mess Hall after finishing maintenance on the drive core. They were the first real friends Tali had made outside of the Migrant Fleet. She could not fathom the thought of them being dead or worse.

Would she be able to kill her friends if they were changed as well?

Tali was so lost in her musings that she barely noticed Shepard walk up behind her and place her hand on Tali's shoulder. The contact made her jump back into reality and she nodded her thanks before moving back toward the table.

"What should we do with this stuff, Shepard?"

Shepard walked up beside her and studied the objects. As far as Tali could tell, the table held a strange looking heavy pistol with elegant symbols etched into the barrel and grip. There were also various strange trinkets that Tali could not even guess as to their purpose. An absolutely beautifully crafted sword sat in its ornate scabbard. Two bags were also present and one of them was open. Tali glanced inside and frowned in confusion.

The inside was covered in ribbons and sigils. Pieces of blank paper were scattered around as though someone had dug through the bag. Then Tali saw something else. Books. Lots of ancient tomes. The covers were labeled with strange glyphs and disturbing images. The creatures and symbols gave Tali a headache and she quickly averted her eyes.

Tali opened the other bag and started to dug through it. It seemed to contain various pieces of clothing. She saw what seemed to be a body-suit and a strange looking formal military uniform. As Tali continued to dig through the bag, she finally reached the bottom of the pile. Her face suddenly burned with embarrassment and she quickly threw everything back into the bag before closing it.

Unfortunately, Shepard noticed what she did and move over with a look of concern.

"What is it? Are you alright?"

"Oh? It…its nothing! There's nothing important in there, Shepard."

Shepard gave her a strange look before plucking the bag out of her hands with a sly smile and opened it up.

Tali groaned and moved to inspect the weapons as Shepard burst out laughing.

"Don't worry Tali, I promise I won't tell anyone you like to go through other people's bra and panties."

Tali ignored her as she moved to inspect the pistol. She tried to scan it with her omni-tool but grimaced in frustration as the scan was blocked. She wanted to test the weapon out and see if it was worth her time but Shepard soon put an end to her musings by reminding her of why they were down here in the first place.

"Alright, this area looks clear, let's leave that stuff alone until we stop the ship from exploding, okay?"

Tali cursed as she realized that she had somehow forgotten all about the current situation and ran to catch up with Shepard as the team regrouped at the elevator.

* * *

"Alright Joker, give me a status report."

Jane checked up SMG and blades before turning to inspect her team. She would have liked to suit up but they were pressed for time so she settled for grabbing a light kinetic barrier emitter along with Kaiden. Tali had picked up her shotgun and Kaiden had grabbed his Carnifex. Jane thought about getting her Saber but decided against it.

"We've evacuated the ship ma'am but Doctor Chakwas is still stuck in the Med-Bay. And let me tell you something, Chief Williams was not happy to say the least. You have less than ten minutes before my baby blows so step on it Commander."

"I hear you Joker. If I'm still alive in ten minutes, I'll be sure to recommend you for a commendation."

"I prefer gold to silver-"

Jane cut off the link before turning to Tali.

"Alright, send a drone in and let's see what we got."

Tali nodded and unhooked a small sphere from her belt. She pressed some buttons on her omni-tool before lobbing the small machine into the engine room.

Suddenly, before they even saw what was inside, the door exploded and what only be described as a mass of flesh surged down the corridor.

Jane's instincts kicked in before her mind even fully registered the threat and she immediately charged up a biotic push that halted the creature long enough for the team to run back out into the Cargo Hold.

As the squad took up firing positions, Jane finally got her first glimpse of the thing and her jaw dropped.

The formless mass of flesh was easily the size of the Mako. It had disgusting eyes, jaws and tentacles growing out it at seemingly random locations. The flesh and features seemed to flow around the body like liquid. Not one feature was the same. Some eyes were bigger than others. Some maws were animalistic while others were humanoid. Some tentacles ended in fleshy feeders while others held eyes. What looked like faces stuck in a permanent expression of pain and terror sometimes seemed to press outward through the flesh before being sucked back into the center of the monster.

As the team watched in horrified silence, a single massive eye emerged from the body and focused on them. The thing's pupil suddenly opened up like a mouth with a bloodcurdling scream.

The team immediately opened fire on the monstrosity. Jane unloaded her SMG into the eye until the gun overheated before she threw a warp field at the monster. The beast screamed in rage and tentacles shot out from its body. Two of them raced toward her and Jane focused her biotic powers around her before flashing out of the way. Folding up her SMG, Jane unsheathed her blades and sliced at the tentacles arming for her.

The things were fast and acted more like spears than whips. The tentacles would shot out of the body and try to impale her before retracting back. Jane growled in frustration as she flashed out of the way of three more tentacles and expertly sliced off two with a swipe of her blades.

The damage she was doing did not seem to hurt the creature at all. In fact, it appeared even more pissed off than before. After repeating this procedure for over a dozen times, the creature finally decided to change tactics and focus on her team instead.

Jane ran behind a supply crate and sat there panting for a few seconds. The excessive use of her biotic powers in that last fight had been exhausting. Her amp was starting to overheat and she could feel the implant start to burn the flesh around it. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Jane sheathed her blades and took out her SMG again.

Looking around at her team, Jane saw that she had gotten off light compared to the others. Wrex had been speared through the shoulder but the wound was already healing. He continued to blast away at the creature with carnage rounds and caused massive chunks of flesh to explode off the creature. Unbelievably, for every piece that was shot off, the creature flowed together until the wound no longer existed. Every eye and tentacle that was blown off was quickly replaced.. The thing never bled either. Whenever it was hurt, some kind of disgusting ichor would ooze out of the wound instead.

Garrus had been forced to hide behind a food container. He was nursing his left side with one hand while continuing to fire his assault rifle with the other. Jane ran over to the Turian and forced him to move his hand so she could get a better look. She scowled at what she saw. The former C-Sec detective had a rather large chunk of his hip sliced off by one of the tentacles. It had gone clean through his armor like it was made of wet tissue paper.

"Is it too much to ask for you to take some time and put medigel on this?"

"Can't Shepard, the painkillers would make me dizzy and I need to be able to focus."

Jane ignored his protests as she waved him to sit down. The Turian growled in pain as Jane took a tube of medigel and plugged it into his armor's injection port. His eyes lost focus and he slowly slumped to the deck.

"Now, stay there and don't get killed. That's an order. Turians like orders, don't they?"

Garrus grinned despite the pain.

"Too bad I'm such a terrible Turian."

Jane returned the smile and peeked out of cover at the rest of the team. Kaiden had been forced back into cover as the tentacles lanced through the air around him. Whenever he tried to poke out of cover, he would be forced back almost immediately. He was effectively pinned and would be of no help.

Tali was faring better but the low-caliber shots of her Piranha were not doing anything to the creature. An idea popped into Jane's mind and she quickly opened up a com-link with the Quarian.

"Tali, do you still have the feed from that recon drone?"

Tali looked around for a second before seeing Jane and nodded in her direction.

"Yes, the room is badly damaged and the containment field for the drive core is offline. Eventually, the alternating gravity and mass will tear the ship apart."

"Do you think you can slip by the creature while I distract it? Get into the engine room and stop the ship from exploding?"

Tali hesitated for a split second before giving her the thumbs up.

"Will do, Shepard."

"Alright, when I tell you tell to, make a run for the left entrance while I keep it distracted."

Jane took a deep breath and drew her swords.

"On the count of three."

She checked to make sure her kinetic and biotic barriers were both up.

"One."

She took another deep breath and flexed her muscles.

"Two."

She mentally willed her amp active and blue light flared around her.

"One!"

Jane's body was surrounded by biotic energy and she launched herself at the creature with the force of a rocket. The biotic charge impacted with the massive center eye and caused the creature to roar in pain and stumble back. While she still hung in the air, Jane activated a high explosive grenade and threw it into the mouth making up the eye's pupils.

She had just enough time to flash away from the creature before the grenade detonated and blew the eye apart into a storm of flesh and ichor.

Running back behind cover, Jane glanced up in time to see Tali close the door to Engineering. Jane slumped against the crate she had taken cover behind and tried to catch her breath. She glanced out of cover again in time to see Kaiden take the opportunity to run to the weapons locker and grab a ML-77 Rocket Launcher. Wrex had decided his Wraith was not the best choice for this fight and pulled out his Striker.

The creature was still dazed and hurt from Jane's attack. It seemed to be concentrating on healing itself because all the tentacle attacks had stopped. The few seconds were all it took for Kaiden and Wrex to start blasting the abomination with missiles and mini-rockets. Huge chunks of flesh were blown off and the creature screamed in pain.

However, just when it seemed like they were about to finish the creature off, the beast gave a scream of rage and suddenly a sickening rainbow colored light filled the air around it. Jane felt like she was about to vomit. Her hair started to float up as static filled the air. As suddenly as it started, the light died out and a new horrifying creature existed where the previous one had disappeared.

"_Shepard…."_

Jane's eye widened as the thing stood up on two misshapen legs. It was just as big, if not bigger than, the previous beast, but this one held a grotesque form as though mocking the human body. The arms were massive and easily made up half creature's mass. It had no head but it did have a disgusting face growing out of its chest which Jane vaguely recognized.

The features were twisted and the skin was colored like rainbow but Jane still recognized it.

It was Supply Officer Andy Briggs.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN**: Very fun chapter to write, I hope you enjoy reading it.

And Shepard hasn't done any of the main missions yet.

* * *

"You think you're so much better than me don't you?"

Jane barely managed to flash out of the way of the purple fireball the Briggs-monster threw at her. She had no idea what was going on and she had idea what he was talking about. The man had never even hinted at the fact that he apparently held such a deep resent toward her. However, no matter how much she regretted the way things turned out, she had to put an end to this before more people got hurt.

"Andy! Stop this!"

The beast did not seem to hear her as he charged toward her cover and Jane was forced to flash out of the way before the enraged monstrosity smashed through the supply crate.

"You're jealous of my power! I am stronger than your entire pathetic team put together!"

Wrex emerged from behind his cover with a snarl. The Krogan leveled his rapid fire rocket launcher and opened fire on the monster's back. It was forced to take a step forward as the mini-rockets blew fist sized holes into its back. Wrex held down the trigger while taunting his target in order to draw its attention.

"Stop your damn monolog and die already!"

At the sight of the Battlemaster, the monster became enraged. It immediately shifted its attention to the Krogan, giving Jane the few seconds she need to run to the weapons locker and grab a missile launcher. She charged up her biotic powers and threw the heavy weapon across the Cargo Bay. Kaiden immediately dropped his empty launcher and pulled the new one into his hands. Jane grabbed another launcher for herself and ran to where Garrus was slumped.

"You ok, Garrus?"

"Give me the launcher, Shepard, I can still fight."

"You are too damn stubborn for your own good and no, I'm getting you somewhere safe."

Jane glanced around the room and cursed under her breath. The thing was blocking the elevator. There was no way it would not notice them if they tried to make a run for it. It was too dangerous to take him to the Engine Room because that might draw its attention to Tali.

"Drop me off in the Mako, Shepard, I can give you some heavy fire support with the main gun."

Jane glanced at the Turian with a smile as she helped him to his feet.

"You are one crazy Turian. You really think it's safe to let an intoxicated man handle heavy machinery? I thought you used to be a cop."

"Don't worry Shepard, I'm the best shot on this ship."

"Uh huh. You didn't really answer my question."

"I know."

Jane popped open the hatch and helped Garrus climbed inside before stepping back.

"Try not to blow us all up, cowboy."

"No promises."

As the hatch sealed shut and the turret powered up, Jane ran toward the rampaging monster as it tried to chase Wrex down. Despite the seemingly the cumbersome form of the Battlemaster, Wrex actually managed to constant stay out of the creature's reach by utilizing a combination of biotics and agility.

The monster screamed in rage and tried to hit Wrex with a fireball but the ancient Battlemaster always flashed out of the way of the blasts. His seemingly inability to kill the Krogan drove the monster into a state of frenzy as it started to howl like a wild animal.

"Face me, coward! I will rip you in half and feast on your innards!"

Wrex snared as he flashed behind the creature's charge and blasted it in the back with another barrage of explosive rounds. The monster screamed in rage as its momentum and force from the explosions sent it stumbling forward onto its knees.

Seeing his chance, Wrex primed an inferno grenade and throw it under the dazed monster. The blast sent burning shrapnel into the creature's chest and flammable tar clung onto its body. A second later, the monster's entire upper torso was engulfed in chemical flames.

Wrex's face split into a nasty grin as he taunted his enemy.

"I am facing you, runt! You just can't keep up!"

The monster howled in agony and thrashed blindly its effort to crush the Battlemaster, but Wrex easily dodged out of the way of its frenzied attacks. Unfortunately, the flames did not seem to actually hurt the creature as it continued its rampage across the Cargo Bay.

Jane snarled in frustration as the smell of burnt flesh became almost overwhelming. She shouldered her missile launcher and fought to keep herself from gagging on the foul stench. Activating the targeting VI of the smart-weapon, Jane locked onto her former supply officer and opened fire. She quickly let loose five homing missiles before cycling a fresh missile pod into the firing chamber.

The five light missiles flew across the Cargo Bay and slammed into the side of the monster. The first two explosions blew massive craters into its torso and caused it to stumble sideways. The next two rockets blew the creature's left arm off at the shoulder and caused the beast to howl in pain and anger. The last rocket slammed into its knee and blew a massive chunk out of the joint, causing the creature to drop to one knee.

At that moment, Kaiden fired his rockets at the monster's right side. The first three missiles blew the creature's stubby right leg off at the knee while the last two slammed into its side. The force of the blasts combined with the sudden loss of both legs caused the creature to finally topple onto its side.

That was when the main gun of the Mako fired and sent a high velocity shell blasting into the beast's torso and blowing it in half. The upper torso's face screamed in rage and agony as it was separated from its lower half. Jane was stunned to see that the inside of the creature was nothing except flesh, with no organs or bones of any kind.

The monster roared in defiance as it tried to feebly push itself toward Jane with its only remaining arm.

"You cannot defeat me! My new master is beyond your comprehension! When he is freed from his prison, he will grant me power beyond anything you can imagine!"

Wrex walked over to Jane's position as the two of cautiously approached the crippled monster. The Krogan scoffed as he inspected his foe.

"He sure likes to talk, doesn't he?"

Jane's face was a mask of determination and anger as she marched up toward the creature. She was careful to stay out of its reach and aimed her launcher at its face.

"What the hell is going on? What is responsible for this? Who is your 'master'?"

The Briggs-Monster laughed as he struggled to get up.

"Foolish whore! The things you have seen are but a fraction of the true power my master wields! The laws of space and time have no meaning to a being such as him. When I free him, he will make all my dreams and fantasies become reality. You will beg to pleasure me, harlot!"

Jane's face contorted in anger.

"Shut up with the damn evil monologues already and give me a straight answer!"

The monster's massive disgusting face contorted into a mocking grin.

"Foolish wench, my master is right in front of you."

The beast then turned his face seemingly toward the sky and screamed at the top of its lungs.

"Master! I give myself fully to you! Give me the power to defeat my enemies!"

Suddenly, monster's face contorted into an expression of pain and fear as pure golden light erupted out of its numerous wounds. He started to scream in agony as the light grew more intense.

Jane was forced to cover her face and she quickly backed away from the now levitating monster. The massive beast's flesh began to break apart even as the face continued to howl in agony.

Jane had no idea what was going on and she had stopped trying to warp her head around it a while ago. She only knew it could not be good.

As the limbs of the creature broke off and disintegrated, wisps of energy began to spiral around it. Eventually the torso and face itself started to break apart into chunks of flesh that begun to orbit the center of the terrifying event. The screams continued even as the monster's mouth broke apart.

Eventually, as the last pieces of the creature disappeared, the light dimmed enough for Jane to see into the heart of the energy twister.

An ancient leather-bound tome with more than two dozen locks on it and surround by chains. It seemed to be covered in the same strange runes and ribbons as seen in the bag they found earlier. Everything, the wisps of energy and chunks of flesh, seemed to orbit it. The intense light Jane had been blinded by earlier was spilling from between the chains holding it shut. It floated off the ground at eye level. The death screams of the monster they fought had been replaced by a musical laugh coming from the book itself.

Before Jane's eyes, the swirling cloud of flesh and energy seemed to fuse onto the book. As the pieces finally joined together, a blinding blast of light filled the Cargo Bay. Then a massive shockwave radiated out from the book in all direction.

Jane barely had time to strengthen her barriers before the blast hit and sent her flying into the wall with a sickeningly crunch of bones. She let out a cry of pain as she felt at least one of her ribs snap and her right shoulder dislocate. Considering how close she had been to the epicenter of the blast, Jane was rather relieved. If she had not backed away and thrown up a barrier, she would have been turned into a messy stain on the wall.

Jane groaned as she got back on her feet. Looking around the chamber, she saw that the rest of the team was still down. The Cargo Bay was a complete wreck. The superstructure was heavily damaged in multiple points and most of the power conduits had overloaded.

Standing at the center of the blast was Andy Briggs in his normal body.

Jane stared in confusion and disbelief.

"Andy? What the hell happened?"

Briggs looked at her and gave her a smile that chilled Jane to the bone.

"Andy? No, but he was kind enough to let me use his body."

Jane's eyes narrowed as the implication dawned on her.

"So…you're the 'master' Andy talked about? I have to say…I thought you'd be bigger."

The Not-Briggs laughed at that.

"Jane Shepard, you are a remarkable example of your species. So altruistic and courageous. Always ready to give your own life for the good of others. There's no reason we should fight. You saw what I gave to this shell. Imagine what I can give you."

Jane realized she was having trouble breathing. She just hoped that her broken rib had not punctured her lungs. It was starting to become difficult to remain conscious.

"Sorry, but I like my body the way it is."

"Ha. You humans have much limited perceptions of things. The power I gave Andy were mere scraps reserved for dogs. No, for you, my dear, I promise the most powerful force in the universe. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Jane blinked her eyes to clear blood that was starting to leak down from her head. She hoped it was just a cut, instead of a concussion or cracked skull. It was getting hard to see the so-called Master.

"No, but I get the feeling you're going to lecture me to make yourself feel superior, right?"

The creature's smile faltered for a second and Jane saw anger, but the mask was immediately restored and the arrogant smile returned.

"Such games are beneath me, because I AM superior to you by virtue of having something you don't. The most powerful force in the universe. Knowledge. You seek the Conduit? It is on Illos."

Jane's eyes narrowed.

"Thanks for the heads up but that doesn't really help much does it? No one knows how to get to Illos. What is Saren planning? Where is he hiding? What does it have to do with the Reapers?"

The Not-Briggs' smirk grew.

"No no no, that's not how it works. You see, if you want my power, you have to do something for me."

Jane's stomach turned at the very thought of helping this abomination but she needed to know more about Saren's plans. Right now, she knew almost nothing and had no leads on the rogue SPECTRE.

"What do you want?"

The creature's smirk grew to an unnatural size.

"You see? I like this universe! People are so open-minded. The task I want you to perform for me is simple, really. I just need you to go up one level and kill your guest."

Jane was stunned for a second. She did not know anything about this situation. She knew she was being played as a pawn in this monster's plans. But was one person's life really worth the potential lives that could be saved by stopping Saren as soon as possible?

"And why do you want her dead? What has she done to you?"

The monster's mask dropped completely and Jane thought she saw some strange massive avian form shadowed behind the Not-Briggs. However, as soon as she blinked to clear her eyes, everything had returned to normal and the creature gave her a thin smile.

"What does it matter? You won't like her anyway. You two operate completely differently. You value life and freedom, she values death and oppression. You'll do the universe a favor if you just kill her."

Jane searched for her SMG but could not find it. She must have dropped it along with the missile launcher when the shockwave hit her. She grabbed her right arm and gritted her teeth before ramming her right side into the wall. The spike of pain made her cry out in agony and she blacked out for a second. After her vision stopped spinning, she flexed her right hand and grimaced as spikes of pain spliced through her arm.

"Well? What do you say?"

Jane turned her attention back to abomination and grinned.

"I have a wonder, if you will indulge me. If you are so powerful, why not kill her yourself?"

The creature remained silent and Jane's smile grew.

"You can't, can you? You can't beat her."

The monster's face contorted in one of barely restrained rage.

"I can crush her with but a wave of my hand! She is nothing before me! When I am finally freed, the first thing I will do is drag her soul screaming into the abyss and make her experience pain surpassing anything found in the material world."

Jane's smile remained.

"Ah, I see. So you're trapped, aren't you?"

The creature managed to calm down after a few seconds. It rolled its eyes at Jane before replying in an annoyed tone.

"The matter is not your concern. The only thing you should think about is my offer?"

Jane mockingly pretended to be confused.

"Offer? Ooooh, that offer! Yea, I decided I wasn't doing it barely a second after you said it."

The monster's eyes narrowed.

"Disappointing, Jane Shepard. But it doesn't really matter, the ship is about to explode and kill all of you anyway."

Jane tried to laugh but the pain in her chest made it come out as little more than a wet cough.

Anger flashed in the monster's eyes.

"What's so funny?"

Despite the pain, Jane still managed to grin.

"What? I thought you knew everything. For a supposedly omniscient being, you seem to be missing some important details."

"What are you talking about?"

Jane used all her willpower to suppress the pain long enough to laugh in the creature's annoyed face.

"The ship should have exploded five minutes ago."

As realization dawned on the monster, its face remained impassive.

"I think I will kill you now, Jane Shepard."

Suddenly, the main gun of the Mako fired. The round hit the Not-Briggs right in the center of its face and blew its head clean off.

The creature somehow emitted a cry of rage as energy cracked in the palm of its outstretched hands.

Garrus barely had time to jump out the back of the Mako before two bolts of purple energy raced down the Cargo Bay and blew the APC apart. Despite the lack of a mouth, the body still laughed and taunted them.

"If you think I need a head to find and kill you, Jane Shepard, then you are greatly mistaken!"

Jane stepped out from behind her cover as flames and smoke began to fill the confined Cargo Bay. The creature turned in her direction and began to charge up another energy attack.

Jane leaned against the wall for support and sighed in utter exhaustion before addressing the monster.

"You know, I wanted to deliver some kind of witty one-liner, but I'm too fucking tired."

Then she raised her arm and fired the strange pistol she had grabbed from the table.

Jane heard a strange whine emit from the gun and hoped the thing still worked. The creature's eyes widened in surprise and recognition. Suddenly, the very air in front of the large muzzle seemed to ignite into plasma and Jane was forced to avert her eyes from the blinding light. The wave of heat energy traveled to the abomination and hit it right in the chest.

The creature's body exploded into a million charred pieces that rained down across the room.

The intact Tome fell to the floor onto a pile of ash, which was all that remained of the monster. The locks and chains on the book were glowing white hot but still somehow held their shape.

Jane stood, stunned, at the destructive power of the gun in her hands. The path of the beam, or whatever it was, could be clearly seen as it had turned the deck plating into molten slag and gone right through the hull of the ship behind its intended target.

Jane placed the smoking gun back onto the table before slumping to the ground. She quickly applied some medi-gel to her wounds and activated her com-link.

"Tali, it's clear."

The door to Engineering opened and the Quarian girl ran over to Shepard's position.

"Shepard! Keelah! We need to get you to the Med-Bay!"

Jane fought to stay conscious as the pain-killers entered her system.

"Check the others, and nice work on getting that reactor fixed."

Tali sheepishly nodded before raising and running to check on the other squad members.

The last thing Jane saw before she blacked out was Kaiden limping toward her with his omni-tool out.


	9. Chapter 9

"So…what exactly is your mission here?"

Killian sighed in annoyance. Her headache had subdued to the point where it was no longer crippling, but her powers were still unstable. Her opinions of the man interrogating her were mixed. On one hand, this Pressly was a far more competent officer than his superiors. He was rightfully paranoid and suspicious of the unknown, which were all good traits to have in a leader. Unfortunately, he was also starting to really get on her nerves.

Taking a deep breath, Killian tried to control her temper and explain her situation again.

"I am First Lieutenant Killian Ibrena of the Imperium of Man. I am a member of His Majesty's Diplomatic Corps and I came here as an explorer."

She could subtly influence his mind, but it was a risky move that she would rather reserve for emergencies. As far as she could tell, none of the people here knew what a psyker was, let alone that she was one. If she tried to influence a crewmember's mind, her trump card would have been blown and she did not fancy her chances of survival while fighting off the angry crewmembers of an entire ship.

It was as her Master always said, her powers were a tool and never to be used as a crutch. She was confident she could bluff and scam her way through this situation without drawing on the dangerous powers of the Warp.

Pressly's eyes narrowed in suspension but Killian could already sense the man's weakness. He was out of his depth and did not know how to handle the situation. It was only natural, since Killian would not expect anyone short of a member of the Inquisition or actual Diplomatic Corps to know how to handle a situation like this either. The man will do what soldiers always do when in doubt. He will run and ask his superiors.

"I'll have to contact Arcturus Station. In the meantime, you are to remain on this ship."

Killian smirked inwardly at how predictable the man was. He was a good soldier and knew his place.

"I'm afraid that is unacceptable. My colleges on the other side of the portal are waiting for me to make contact. It could start a diplomatic incident and sour our future relations if I do not contact them soon."

Pressly scowled and activated that amazing holographic interface everyone on the ship seemed to have. As far as she could tell, the thing had a built-in vox-caster and auspex-scanner. Amazing technology that would make the Mechanicus adepts giddy with excitement.

"Joker, what's the status of the ship?"

The quality of the transmission was a thing to behold. That something so small and inconspicuous held such powerful transmitters was unheard of. If it existed in the Imperium, it was most likely jealously hoarded by the Mechanicus. The closest thing Killian's team employed was a set of advanced micro-beads that had to be relayed off a vox-caster in order to achieve long-range communications.

Joker, as far as Killian understood it, was the seemingly appropriate nickname given to the ship's incredibly insubordinate pilot. The discipline on this ship was rather lacking. Just another hint at the many failures of its commanding officer.

This ship was an absolute disgrace.

Just then, a man with a disturbing disregard for maintaining his personal appearance and hygiene wobbled into the circular briefing room. He stared at Killian and she stared back at him. It was an interesting experience, because, back in the Imperium, people rarely had the courage to face her down.

"Nice outfit, where did you get it?"

Pressly massaged his temples and Killian could feel annoyance radiate off of him. Why he did not discipline the man was a mystery. Killian already counted no less than thirty-seven protocol infringements, any one of which could have resulted in an Imperial Naval officer being flogged or worse.

"Joker…now is really not a good time for this."

Joker held up his hands in mock submission before addressing Killian again.

"Nice trench coat. Is it standard issue where you come from? And what's with the skull fetish? I really like the whole 'dark age' theme you got going."

The blood drained from Pressly's face and he all but hissed.

"Joker…just give me the report and leave before you make things worse."

Killian was momentarily stunned and conflicted on how to proceed. On one hand, she liked people who could have light-hearted conservations with her, but she did not really want to encourage this sort of behavior.

So she settled for just loudly clearing her throat and giving Pressly a expecting gaze. Seeing that he was not getting a rise out of her, Joker rolled his eyes before handing a data-slate to Pressly and wobbling out of the room.

"Is this sort of behavior and choice of….personnel…standard for all human ships?"

Pressly did bother to look up from the tablet.

"You mean the aliens and Joker? Then no, the Normandy is a special case."

Killian's eyes narrowed at the memory of xenos lurking on the ship.

"Yes, this is a human military vessel is it not? Is it wise to give aliens access to your vital systems?"

Pressly scoffed and his reply served to give some comfort to Killian.

"Frankly, I don't trust them. They might claim to be our allies and they are definitely skilled, but when push comes to shove, a species will always stick with its own."

The man was the most sensible person Killian had encountered in this universe so far. It was a mystery how the man had not risen to the rank of captain or even commodore yet. A man who can combine the practicality of xeno mercenaries with his divine hatred of non-humans was hard to find. Killian smiled inwardly. Her Master would have liked him. If he had served in the Imperial Navy, Killian had no doubt the man would have been requisitioned to her Master's retinue. Provided, of course, some trigger-happy fool in the Ordo Xenos did not execute him for heresy.

The thought of Puritan Ordo Xenos inquisitors never ceased to make Killian's blood boil with rage. They were always working to sabotage Mankind's chances at survival with their closed-mindedness. Too stuck in their ideals to see that things like Daemons and Xenos were to be used and exploited instead of destroyed on sight. She still recalled with anger at what the fools tried to do during the Black Crusade when the Eldar had come to their aid.

Her Master frequently consorted with a company of Tau mercenaries, and had been one of the few to work with the Eldar during the height of the Black Crusade as the Despoiler's 'Planet Killer' ravaged world after world. She remembered the mission the team had undertaken with the aid of a Harlequin troupe in order to prevent a heretic from ascending to daemonhood during the Fall of Kasr Partox.

The trick to dealing with Xenos was to always expect betrayal. Just as Eldar raiders attacked Human worlds while Imperial forces were used to halt the Chaos Incursion, so too did the Tau launch their own invasion.

Pressly snapped her out of her memories of the Black Crusade as he finished reading the report.

"Well, I take it they don't like aliens where you come from?"

Killian glanced at him before returning her attention to the holographic map projected into the center of the room.

"Have you never come into conflict with other species here?"

Pressly gave a cynical scoff.

"Oh, we have. My grandfather fought in our so-called First Contact War with the Turians."

Turians. That Kroot-look-alike creature the Commander's command squad had helped into the Medicae.

"But, enough of my opinions. According to this, the repairs might take a while. Our com-link was damaged and engines are off-line. You might as well make yourself comfortable. I hope you understand that I can't just let you wonder around or off the ship."

Killian's respect for the man grew with every word he said. Unfortunately, that also meant she was in a tough situation and she had to manipulate her way out. The easiest way was to mess with the man's mind but she was reluctant to give such a sensible and capable man brain-damage. Not to mention, someone like him must possess strong mental fortitude, which would increase the risk that was always associated with using the Warp.

Fortunately, the Emperor Provides, because at that moment, Pressly's 'omni-tool' chirmed. The man frowned but as he read the message, Killian felt relief flood his mind.

"Commander Shepard is awake in the Med Bay and wants to see you."

Killian grinned inwardly. That pathetic excuse for an officer would be easy to manipulate into letting her open the portal.

* * *

"Commander, I strongly suggest you lay down."

Jane winced as pain spiked through her chest and she could feel her ribs grinding against each other.

"Noted Doc, how long was I out?"

Doctor Chakwas sighed before moving next to Jane and running a scan of her body with her omni-tool.

"Just under three hours."

Jane frowned as looked around the Med-Bay and saw Garrus propped up in a bed next to her. The Turian appeared to be asleep since his eyes were closed. Jane just hoped he was not dead. The chunk of flesh that had been torn out of his hip must have caused massive blood lose. She was impressed the young ex-cop had not gone into shock.

Then she remembered something.

"Doc, where is our guest?"

Chakwas hesitated before replying.

"Medically, there was nothing wrong with her so I could not hold her here. She left almost as soon as the doors opened."

"Do you know where she – ah – went?"

Chakwas removed the needle she had gabbed into Jane's neck and threw it away before replying.

"She said she had to collect her things."

She scowled as she remembered that damn book. That woman had a lot of explaining to do when Jane finds her.

"Where is she now?"

"I think she went to talk with Lieutenant Pressly."

Jane activated her omni-tool and opened a line.

"Pressly, can you send our guest to the Med-Bay? Thanks."

Chakwas frowned.

"Commander, you are in no condition to do anything right now. I'm about to inject you without another shot of painkillers and put you under."

Jane grinned as she slowly pushed herself off the bed. She almost collapsed fromthe pain but Chakwas quickly rushed to her side to keep her from falling.

"No time to lose, Doc. What's the status of the ship?"

Chakwas sighed as she activated her omni-tool again.

"According to the last report, it'll be at least six hours before the Normandy is space-worthy. Then we'll have to get to a Dry Dock for the ship to be at full combat capacity again."

Jane cursed under her breath. That could take weeks! Saren was working around the clock and she was grounded for weeks!

Fortunately, she knew the Conduct was on Illos now. Which did not help much but it was a start. The bad part was that she did not know if she could trust that creature. Was it really wise to stake everything on the words of an abomination?

Jane sighed and pushed the thoughts from her mind. What was done is done. It was useless to complain.

"Tell me what you learned about our guest."

Chakwas thought for a few seconds before replying.

"Well, she told me her name was Killian Ibrena. She's a junior diplomat and an explorer. She said she represented the Imperium of Man and that her mission was peaceful."

Jane pondered over what she learned.

"Did she tell you anything about where she came from or how?"

"Apparently, she's from an alternate universe or time or something. She said she's not sure and that the portal was a new discovery."

Jane's face darkened at her next question.

"Did she tell you what was responsible for wrecking my ship?"

Chakwas hesitated before replying.

"She only said that it was better I didn't know."

Jane scoffed at that.

At that moment, a figure stepped into the room and cleared her throat. Jane turned around and saw the woman, Killian, standing at the wrecked door. She had changed back into her 'normal' outfit and, Jane noted with apprehension, grabbed most of her things from the Cargo Bay. Jane frowned as she recalled the two bags and the book. She also noted this Killian was not carrying it.

"You mind explaining what the hell happened right after I brought you here?"

The woman gave her a nervous nod before replying in a hesitant voice.

"Umm…you have to understand, it wasn't my fault! One of the crew most of opened my bag and well…"

She glanced away and rubbed her arm.

Jane sighed heavily.

"Look, I'm not trying to throw blame at anyone, I just want to know what the hell happened so I can tell the men's families why their loved one isn't coming home."

The girl bit her lips and nodded meekly. Jane was struck by how young she was. The idea of sending someone like her into a situation like this seemed strange.

After a few seconds of silence, Killian finally responded.

"I…I umm…I don't really know how to explain it well since I'm just a scout, really. I took the thing that did this and stashed it in one of your sealed hazardous material containers in the Cargo Bay. My superiors sent me through the portal they found as sort of a test. If I made it to the other side, I was supposed to give them the all clear signal."

Jane winced inwardly at the fact that she more than likely caused this mess by screwing with that Prothean trinket. But that did not excuse that fact that they sent this girl as some sort of living test dummy. The thought of that really did not sit well with her.

"They sent you here without any clue as to what would happen?"

Killian seemed surprised by her outburst.

"What…no! No…well…it's…they said it was probably…"

Jane scowled at what she heard. It seemed no matter which universe humanity came from, people were still, ultimately, human. They were just as prone to acts of callousness as any other.

"So what do you plan to do now?"

Killian thought for a second before replying.

"I want to go back to the portal and see what is going on. I don't understand why it closed."

Jane winced and dug into her pocket before handing Killian the Prothean trinket.

Killian's eyes widened in recognition and she started to stammer.

"Wha…ho…whe…this is the key that activates the portals! How did you find this?"

Jane tried to walk around. The pain was extremely uncomfortable but she could do it with the aid of local anesthetic.

"Someone gave it to me as a reward for helping her deal with a problem. She had no idea what it was because someone gave it to her as payment or something a while ago."

Killan face split into a happy grin.

"Your executive officer said the repairs would take a while. Now is a good time for me to go and contact my superiors. There were a few other members of the team that were supposed to come through after I reported in."

Jane started to head for the exit when Chakwas stopped her.

"Commander, what are you doing?"

"This is important, Doctor. I have to be there myself. I am a SPECTRE."

Chakwas sighed.

"I take it that nothing I say will change your mind?"

Jane grinned as she grabbed some medi-gel tubes.

"Nope, too stubborn and stupid."

Jane activated her omni-tool and linked up with her team.

"Ashley and Tali, gear up and meet me in the Cargo Bay. We're going to make history. What's the status of the Mako?"

Tali replied after a few seconds.

"Sorry Shepard, but the tank is scrap. That…thing blew it apart completely."

Jane cursed.

"While, I guess some exercise never hurts. I want you to get a respirator mask for our guest."

"Will do, Shepard."

Jane deactivated her com-link and headed for the elevator with Killian behind her. Looking around the Crew Deck, Jane saw half a dozen crew-men working to repair the damaged circuitry and hull. She smiled as she saw that someone had welded the table back together.

Someone cleared her throat behind Jane and she turned her head to see Killian.

"Shepard…should I call you Shepard?"

Jane smiled warmly.

"Yea, Shepard is fine, now what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering about the aliens on your ship. Are they…you know…safe?"

Jane's eyes widened in surprise at the question. It had never occurred to her that this might be first time Killian had encountered the other species on her ship.

"Don't worry. I trust them all with my life. They are all honorable people and extremely good at what they do."

Killian seemed unconvinced as the two entered the elevator.

"But, what if they have to choose between helping you and fighting their own people?"

"We are all on the same team. Our enemy is a crazy Turian named Saren, who trying to destroy galactic civilization. Garrus came along to help bring the traitor to justice. Tali is just a kid. She was the one who helped us prove Saren was a traitor. Wrex is…well…complicated."

Killian seemed thoughtful and remained silent as the doors finally opened and the duo stepped into the most heavily damaged section of the ship. Over two dozen crewmembers and mechs were laboring away to repair the damage caused by the battle. The molten deck plating had to cut off and replace. Fried circuitry was pried out and power was rerouted.

Tali and Ashley were already waiting for them at the supply lockers. Ashley had suited up and grabbed her massive Typhoon LMG. She did not even bother to hide the suspicious glare she gave Killian.

Jane grabbed her weapons and helmet before heading for the door. The wreckage of the Mako had been pushed out of the way and the ramp had been lowered to allow the crew more mobility and space during the repairs.

"Alright people, it's going to be a long hike."

* * *

After more than two hours of climbing and marching, the Prothean ruins finally came into view. Tali could hardly contain her excitement. She could very well be the representative of her people in making first contact with beings from another universe!

She quickly brought her omni-tool up and deployed a general-purpose drone. The spherical machine hovered behind her and Tali activated its recording function. She planned to record everything and send a copy back to the Fleet as soon as she could. Her hands shook with glee and she had to force herself to calm down.

It was inappropriate to be so happy after what had happened on the Normandy. Tali had nearly broken down in tears after the adrenaline wore off. Nothing of the mutated creatures remained for study and of the four missing crewmembers in the Cargo Bay, only Warrant Officer Briggs had been identified. The rest, Tali's friends, had been declared MIA and presumed dead. They did not even bother to order a search because everyone, even Tali deep down in her heart, knew they were dead.

Tali turned her head slightly to glance at the strange woman that Shepard called Killian. She did not know what to think of her. She was so different from the other humans. The way she dressed and the way she talked. Tali did not know why but the slight woman unnerved her. She seemed polite enough the one time Tali had tried to talk to her, but the conversation felt extremely awkward and short.

The woman seemed to feel Tali staring at her because she turned her head to glance back. Her face was neutral and Tali was not adept at reading human facial expression. She had so many questions that she was dying to ask but the woman seemed wary around her.

"So…Killian…umm…what is your home galaxy like?"

Silence. Terrible awkward silence. Tali's face burned and she glanced away.

Suddenly, Ashley voiced her opinion from the back of the group,

"Yea, tell us, what's your home like?"

The woman glanced at Ashley then at Shepard.

The Commander smiled and nodded.

"It's ok, you can trust them."

After another moment of silence, Killian finally replied.

"The Imperium of Man has ruled the galaxy for over ten thousand years under the leadership of the Emperor."

Tali's eyes widened. That would make it four times older than the Council itself.

However, before the team could ask any more questions, Killian increased her pace until she arrived at the edge of the ruins. She started to walk around and inspect the massive structure while the rest of the team caught with her.

Tali studied the ruins in awe. She did not know much about Prothean culture or technology so she did not really understand the runes and designs of the structure.

"Shepard."

Tali turned to see the Commander approach Killian.

"Could you insert that key into the slot like you did before?"

Shepard nodded before entering the structure. Tali and Ashley moved to follow her, but Killian remained outside. Ashley glanced back at her.

"You coming?"

Killian did not take her eyes of the Prothean runes she seemed to be studying. She simply waved her hand in Ashley direction.

"Yes, just give me a few minutes and I'll catch up."

Ashley's eyes narrowed but she turned to follow Tali into the ruins.

The two of them rounded the corner just in time to see Shepard plug the 'key' into a strange-looking pylon. An oppressive mood weighing on Tali's mind seemed to lift and power began to crack around the room. Static filled the air and a slight rumbling seized the structure.

Tali nervously glanced at her omni-tool as energy reading fluctuated between impossibly high and negative. She cursed as her drone's circuits overloaded and the device fell to the ground lifeless.

Shepard's voice sounded over the maelstrom and snapped Tali back to her senses.

"C'mon, the portal should be in the central chamber."

Tali nodded and followed the Commander around the walls until they came upon an opening.

Tali gasped at what she saw.

A massive hole had opened up in the air. The thing seemed to be a strange shade of purple and pink. Tali quickly averted her eyes as she started to feel nauseated.

Killian soon rejoined them and moved to stand next to the portal. She had her back to the team and Tali could not see what she was doing. Tali reasoned that she must be somehow establishing a com-link to the other side.

After a minute, Killian stepped back and mentioned for the team to do the same.

Anticipation seized Tali and she felt a ping of regret at the destruction of her drone. She activated her omni-tool and turned on the built-in recorder. She linked it to her HUD so that everything she saw was recorded.

The portal seemed to expand and more power started to crack through the air. Tali was starting to worry about their safety, but Killian seemed calm, so Tali tried to reassure herself that whatever is happening was safe.

After what seemed like a tense lifetime, the portal seemed to stabilize into a massive hole in reality that gave Tali a headache when she tried to inspect it further. The energy discharges seemed to have stopped and everything was still. The portal made no sounds, but Tali seemed to hear faint crying and screaming coming from it. She hoped it was her imagination.

She hoped.

Killian cautiously approached the portal but stayed well clear of the center.

Then it happened.

Tali watched, mesmerized, as a massive form, easily more than ten feet tall, emerged from the portal. The thing looked robotic but the head was composed of what looked like a human skull with machinery stuck into it. It was extremely bulky and reminded Tali of an YMIR heavy combat mech. The thing was obliviously designed for combat because it looked heavily armored and had a large caliber cannon attached to its shoulder. Its bulky arms ended in what looked like massive fists that cracked and glowed with energy.

The mech was extremely ornate and possessed a strange half-human and half-machine skull emblem embedded on its chest plate. It had numerous ribbons and seals stuck to the armor.

Tali snapped out of her amazement and activated her omni-tool to scan the machine.

And quickly realized she made a big mistake because the machine immediately turned its attention to her and started charging toward her while bringing its massive fists around for a strike that would most likely crush every bone in her body.. The massive cannon took aim at her and she barely had time to jump out of the chamber before the thing opened fire.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN**: A few people asked about Killian's personality. Basically, she's pretending to be an innocent girl in over her head in front of Shepard. In front of Pressly, she more or less takes on the personality of a leader because that's what Pressly respects. She's doing this to get people to let their guard down around her.

* * *

Well, negotiations have not exactly started off on a good note. Killian stood before the portal and waited impatiently.

"How long do I have to do this?"

Killian did not bother to open her eyes as the frantic cries of the xeno came again. She could sense that another being had entered the portal. She hoped it was the Mechanicus adept instead of the rest of the maniple.

"Just keep running, you'll be fine. Another couple minutes at most."

* * *

Stupid bosh'tet.

"Tali! Just keep going! You'll be fine, it's not even close anymore!"

Tali's legs were starting to burn. She had been running in circles around the wall of the ruins for the last ten minutes. She could still hear the giant machine chasing after her. After another minute of sprinting around the circular corridor, Shepard came into view again.

"How much longer?!"

Shepard gave her a reassuring smile as Tali slowed down to catch her breath.

"Don't worry, any minute now, I'm sure."

Tali nervously glanced behind her as the faint footsteps of the killer robot echoed down the hallway. Ashley's voice sounded from across the central chamber.

"You're good for now, Tali! The dumb thing's finally stopped chasing you in circles."

Shepard sighed in annoyance and patted Tali on the back.

"Better stay out of sight for now."

Tali groaned and leaned against the wall as she heard the robot stomp its way back into the portal chamber. Too afraid to lean out the archway and look, Tali turned to Shepard.

"What's it doing now?"

The Commander gave her a reassuring smile.

"You can calm down now, Tali. It's back to patrolling the portal chamber. Better stay out of sight for now until someone comes and shuts it off."

She did not to be told twice. After all, Quarians were good at running from killer robots.

* * *

Jane gave Tali a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before returning to the central chamber.

She tried to remain calm and collected but these people were starting to really get on her nerves. Even if they were not responsible for what happened on the ship, and Jane was not sure they were not, she still felt like all she was getting for being nice was a bullet to the leg for her troubles.

They better be the nicest people in the universe because Jane was not sure how much longer she could resist the growing temptation of destroying the key and bombing the entire site from orbit. After all, that portal was how those monsters had gotten into this universe. Was something that dangerous really worth what could be gained?

Jane sighed as she realized that it was not her decision to make. She was a soldier. Her job was to protect the people. Something of this magnitude would cause a proverbial social tsunami that she was not qualified to predict.

If these people came here to fight a war, then Jane would fight them to her dying breath. However, she absolutely refused to be the one to start a war because of her personal feelings.

Striding pass the patrolling robot, Jane approached the portal. Killian turned her head and gave Jane a nervous look. She opened her mouth but Jane quickly halted her.

"Yes, yes, I know it wasn't your fault. Now, tell me who we're going to meet."

Killian gave her a thin smile before returning her attention to the portal.

"The most important person that is about to come through is Archmagos Veneratus Flavion. He is a very influential man in the Imperium and holds a lot of power and respect among his brotherhood. But, he is 'merely' an explorer and cannot actually make any major political decisions."

Jane frowned at all the strange terms and descriptions but merely nodded her head.

"If he can't make big decisions, who can?"

"My immediate superior cannot come through at this time. There are many important matters he has to attend to. In truth, this group was just supposed to setup a base-camp on the other side of the portal. We did not expect to meet you."

"Understandable, so I suppose you are in charge then?"

Killian seemed startled by that idea as her eyes widened.

"What? No, I was just supposed to come through and make sure everything was fine!"

Jane held up her hands.

"Calm down, it was a joke."

"Oh…well, to answer your answer, yea…I suppose I am."

Jane decided to change the subject before the conversation got too awkward.

"So, do you plan to set up a base here?"

Killian nodded before indicting the portal.

"Yes, that monster that attack your ship and took over your men? It was imprisoned within that book. I was supposed to use it to tell me how to repair the portal if something went wrong. However, the realm between our worlds, the Warp we call it, is home to countless more that could easily come through the portal if we are not careful."

Jane nodded in understanding. It seemed these people were the best equipped to handle the threat. The galaxy knew almost nothing about these monsters. Jane shuddered at the thought of what kind of damage one of those creatures could cause if it got loose onto the Citadel.

"I'll have to inform my superiors of this development and I have no idea how they will respond."

Killian glanced at her.

"We don't plan to invade if that is what you are worried about."

Jane kept her face neutral.

"Be that as it may, I can't just leave you here. This planet is technically under Council supervision and they'll want to know if someone set up a base here."

Killian seemed uncomfortable around any mention of the Council, though Jane understood why. These people knew nothing about the other species of the galaxy. It was a miracle they were found by humans.

Not that the Council was likely to do anything. The planet being this close to the Terminus Systems would rule out any sort of large-scale Council action. The most they'll likely do is send a representative or agents to keep an eye on the situation and request an audience with the leader of the expedition.

So unless they wanted to talk to a junior officer in over her head, they'd have to wait.

At that point, the duo was joined by Ashley. The woman glared at Killian and made no effort to conceal her anger.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

Killian looked her in the eyes and calmly replied.

"I'm sorry but I did not have control over the machine."

Ashley's eyes narrowed.

"Uh huh. Don't you care about possibly killing someone?"

"The original plan was for me to come through and then give the all-clear signal. Then the robot would come through and secure the area. Your….shipmate was only targeted because she did something that the machine interpreted as hostile."

Ashley did not seem satisfied but remained silent. Jane secretly agreed with her. These people were getting more reckless the more she learned about them.

The crack of energy grew around her and Jane turned her attention back to the portal.

"Try not to look directly into it, from what I understand, the human eye is not designed to see into this dimension and bad things happen if you stare at it too long."

Before Jane could avert her eyes, she thought she saw faces leering at her from inside the portal.

"Can those things get out?"

Killian had closed her eyes.

"No, they can't physically exist in this realm without a medium."

Jane's eyes narrowed.

"Like a person."

"Anything is fair game unless precautions are taken."

"And I suppose you're going to tell us how to defend ourselves against these creatures."

Killian turned to her with a reassuring smile.

"Of course, they are creatures of will. A mentally strong enough person can resist them. Of course, they can still physically kill you so you also have to be an able warrior."

Jane pondered on what she had learned as the portal seemed to swell in size until finally a figure stepped through it.

The strange being was vaguely humanoid and shrouded in a set of dark red robes that obscured most of its features. In one hand, it carried a staff tipped with the same emblem as the one found on the robot. A hood was pulled low over its face, cloaking its features in shadow. Jane noted with apprehension that faint green lines of circulatory seemed to glow under its skin. Two glowing orbs seemed to stare out of the shadows at her. However, what really caught her attention was what the being seemed to carry behind it. More than a dozen metallic tentacles, each tipped with a strange instrument, claws and what looked suspiciously like weapons emerged from the back of the figure.

Killian approached the newcomer as Jane stared at the strange being in astonishment. Every inch of deathly pale skin that showed from the concealing robes was highlighted with subtle circuitry.

Was this thing a human?

Jane knew that there were numerous people in the Alliance interested in loosening the laws concerning cyborgs but she never imagined anyone would willingly turn their bodies into something like this.

It reminded her of the husks they fought on Eden Prime.

The new figure began to converse with Killian in a strange language that Jane did not understand. It seemed that either they were trying to keep her out of the loop about something or galactic basic was not common knowledge in their universe. Most likely both.

After a few minutes of conversion, the robed figure emitted a loud noise that resembled static feedback. The robot immediately stopped its patrolling and lumbered over to its master.

Jane moved to stand before the pair as they turned their attention to her. She snapped a salute and hoped that the history books would be kind on her.

"I am Commander Jane Shepard, Special Agent of the Citadel Council and soldier of the Systems Alliance military. On behalf of all member species in this galaxy, I welcome you in peace."

The cloaked figure bowed its head in greeting and crossed its hands into a strange symbol. It began to speak in their strange language and Jane noted in surprise that it was feminine but with a disturbing metallic quality to it.

As it spoke, Killian began to translate what it…she was saying.

"I greet you in peace, Commander Jane Shepard, on behalf of Archmagos Flavion and the Adeptus Mechanicus. I am Adept Xana of the Legio Cybernetica. I apologize for what Castellan APP tried to do. It meant well and was simply following what it was told to do."

Jane tried to keep her eye-brows from rising as this Adept Xana turned and affectionately rubbed the 'head' of the robot. Even more amazing was the fact that the machine seemed to responsible like a pet as it lowered its head to give the strange woman an easier time in reaching it and emitted strange buzzing sounds.

Killian awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Umm…the members of the Mechanicus can be a bit…eccentric by normal human standards where we come from."

"Yea, I noticed," Jane deadpanned. "What can you tell me about them?"

Killian glanced at the Adept, who seemed to have led the massive machine like a puppy to the far side of the room and had started to inspect it. Tali had nervously crept back into the room but neither the Adept or the robot seemed to pay any attention to her. Ashley had stayed in the hallway during the entire exchange.

"They're a semi-autonomous organization that deals with the maintenance and discovery of technology and science within the Imperium. They are rather religious with heavy emphasis on machines and knowledge."

Jane frowned at that. Suddenly, Ashley butted in and voiced what Jane had been thinking.

"They worship…machines?"

Killian pondered from a moment before shrugging pathetically.

"Sorry, I'm not an expert on their beliefs. It's all very strange and secretive. The Arch-Magos once told me that it was not supposed to make sense to our way of thinking. He will probably be able to better explain his organization."

Jane's head spun with the all the new information. When she accepted the position of SPECTRE, she knew that the job would be much more complicated than fighting in a battle but she really had not anticipated something like this. It was like a First Contact scenario, but possibly even more important.

Jane smiled inwardly as she realized how much could change within the span of a single day.

* * *

Standing in front of the portal as the rest of the robot maniple arrived made Killian realize something.

She was relieved.

It had never really occurred to her just how she felt while seemingly stranded on this side of the portal. She had been so focused on getting the portal open again that everything else seemed secondary. As Adept Xana came through, Killian had felt a weight seemingly left from her mind. She normally did not associate with the members of the machine cult and she never thought she could be so happy to see one.

The thought of being stuck in this universe was terrifying now that she could afford to let some of her guard down. She never realized how much she missed the Inquisitor's manor on the moon of Saturn. She even wanted to see the Scholastica Psykana back on Terra.

Killian involuntarily shuddered at the memories. She silently mused on whether the planets in this universe were the same. It was an interesting idea. So far, she knew they called their homeworld Earth, but could it really be the actual birthplace of Humanity? Would the Emperor exist?

Killian herself had never been too convinced by the Resurrectionist factions of the Inquisition. The main realistic goal of this expedition was to find useful knowledge and archeotech. Her Master had convinced the Puritan Thorians to support this venture with the idea of possibly finding the Master of Mankind and Killian was not sure how they would react to failure. Fortunately, as long as they returned with something useful, the critics would not be able to criticize them more than usual.

The Commander had given her one of the so-called omni-tools and instructed her in its basic rituals but she had not had time to properly inspect it. It was probably safer to let the Arch-Magos study it first. It seemed simple to use and reminded her of advanced data slates employed on prosperous Forgeworlds and Hives.

With any luck and by the Emperor's grace, this device will be the first of many discoveries that will get Humanity the boost it needs to return to glory.

As the last part of the maniple arrived through the portal and lumbered over to its pack mates, Killian sighed in relief as she felt a massive sentient presence enter the portal.

After a minute of waiting, the massive form of Arch-Magos Flavion appeared from the portal. Comparable in size to a Dreadnaught instead of a man, Flavion moved toward them on six servo-legs that were remarkably silent for their size. A large armored cylinder containing his cogitators, data looms and whatever remained of his fleshy body rose out of the disc-shaped base where his legs were attached. Exhaust ports rose out behind him and belched flames into the air every minute. The symbol of his brotherhood hung from the front of the cylinder.

As always, a series of wires connected the Arch-Magos to the comparably small Protector servitor striding in front of him.

Killian moved to greet the Machine priest as Shepard followed behind her. Switching to High Gothic so that the other woman would not be able to understand their conversation, Killian made the Sign of the Aquila.

"Magos, what's the status on the other side?"

The servitor made the Sign of Cog in its master's place. The speaker built into hull of the massive form responded after a second.

"The Inquisitor has returned to the fleet staging area at Belis Corona to report on the situation. We sent an astropathic message as soon as you made contact. My Logi estimated it will be at least a month before he can return with Imperium support."

Killian sighed in relief.

"What's the status of the basecamp? Have you discovered anything new?"

"Unfortunately, no. Most of the technology we recovered was too degraded to salvage. Fortunately, my ship is due to arrive in orbit within the week. We can establish fortifications on this side during the next scheduled portal opening."

Killian nodded before indicting the small party behind her.

"I told them I'm just a junior diplomat with the rank of Lieutenant. They speak a dialect of Old Earth. As far as I can tell, the Humans here are members of a mutual defense alliance with several xeno species."

"Yes yes yes," the Magos replied impatiently, "what can you tell me about their technology?"

Killian smiled at the single-mindedness of the techpriest. Switching back to the language the people in this universe used, she turned to address Shepard.

"Commander, may I represent Archmagos Veneratus Flavion of the Martian Brotherhood."

The priest paused for a second before addressing Shepard in her own language.

"Inglis, a widespread language employed through the history of ancient Earth. Accent resembles that employed by citizens of Kanida. Are you from Earth?"

Shepard snapped out of her astonishment in time to salute.

"Magos, welcome to our galaxy. To answer your question, The Human Systems Alliance is based on Earth but I was born on a ship."

Killian was not too surprised. Most Naval officers in the Imperial navy were from Naval Dynasties, and the menials bred like vermin in their sections of the ship. On larger vessels, many of the lowest ranking personnel had never even seen outside the ship or tasted anything except reprocessed protein paste.

Flavion dipped the front of his massive frame in what he probably considered a nod. A mechadendrite emerged from the main chassis and pointed its auspex at Shepard. After a few minutes of awkward silence, the Magos finally spoke.

"Two of your ribs appear to be fractured. You should see a medical professional."

Shepard gave him a forced smile that impressed Killian. She had thought the Commander a naïve fool, and she was one, but Killian had to credit the woman with being remarkably strong-willed to still be up and about after a fight with a daemon.

"Are mutations such as yours common among your people?"

What.

* * *

Lebrak snared as he waited in the entrance bay of his ship. The rest of his crew was overdue by over six hours now. What had those idiots been doing? The Batarian pirate opened his omni-tool and scanned for the last known location of his salvage team. They were somewhere to the North of his position but more than ten miles away. There was no way was he going to track them down on foot with those damn microbes everywhere.

Oh well, that just meant a bigger share of the spoils for himself.

But then again, the incompetent maggots had lost his APC. The Hegemony had given it to him in exchange for raiding Alliance colonies and it was doubtful they would give him another one anytime soon without a crew. Besides, they had also supplied most of his weapons and armor. It would take him a fortune to rearm his ship and hire a new crew.

With a sigh, he realized he was going to have to go and salvage what he could. Activating his com-link, he growled into his omni-tool as the low-quality transmitter filled with static. He slammed his wrist into the wall in anger and grinned as the static disappeared.

"Tarnik, get your ass down here, now. We need to go find those idiots and get my stuff back."

"Right boss, I'm on my way."

A few minutes later, his First Officer joined him at the entrance of his ship and two set off in search of his lost property.

* * *

After two hour of climbing through rough terrain in absolute silence, Tarnik decided to speak up and lighten the mood.

"So, what do you think happened to them, boss?"

Lebrak snarled and suddenly kicked his subordinate in the back hard enough to send the other Batarian stumbling forward.

"Shut your damn mouth and speak when you're spoken to. Pay attention to the damn sensors!"

The fool picked himself off the ground and continued forward without a word.

After another two hours of marching and climbing, Lebrak growled in frustration. He was tempted to just head back as his feet was starting to burn. He did not look forward to the return trip.

Suddenly, his idiot of a First Officer stopped and stuttered.

"Umm….uh…"

That did it. Something snapped in Lebrak's head and he flew into a rage.

Lebrak slapped the man hard enough to make him cry out and fell to the ground. While the pathetic worm was down, Lebrak panted two kicks into the man's stomach and watched in satisfaction as the figure curled into a ball. That felt good. He finally had an outlet for all his trapped anger and frustration.

After another series of kicks into the man, Lebrak noted with annoyance that his target had stopped moving.

Great. The fool had either passed out or died. Now Lebrak had to strip his gear and carry everything back to the ship by himself if the APC was wrecked.

Screaming in rage, Lebrak unfolded his Raider shotgun and blasted the prone Batarian in the back. The cheap kinetic barrier immediately overloaded and the second shot tore through the low quality armor. The shot caused the man's back to explode into gore and Lebrak was forced to back away so his armor would not get sustained.

Panting with excitement, he forced himself to calm down long enough to put away his weapon. It was probably not the smartest thing he ever did, but it felt good. The day so far had been rather depressing so that little moment of pleasure served to brighten his dark mood.

Something nagged at him and he tried to sort through his thoughts. Tarnik had been trying to get his attention about something. Looking around, he quickly saw what his former First Officer had seen.

At the base the mountain in front of him, one of his missing men lay slumped against a boulder.

Sighing in annoyance, Lebrak walked toward the unmoving figure. A trail of blood stretched back toward a valley. Lebrak was rather impressed as he finally got a look at the man. His guts were barely staying inside his belly and his facemask had fallen off.

He had probably crawled here before finally succumbing to his wounds and the fatal allergic reaction triggered by the planet's micro-organisms

Suddenly, all four of the seemingly dead Batarian's eyes snapped open.

Lebrak jumped back with a grunt of surprise and brought his gun back up.

"Captain…I've seen the paradise of Heaven…it is beyond imagination. Pleasure and bliss unlike anything I've ever experienced."

Lebrak snared.

"What the hell are you talking about? What happened?"

The dying man's face shifted into an expression of pure euphoria.

"I breathed in the air around the Gate of Heaven and I brought a piece of Paradise back with me to the mortal world."

Lebrak scowled in frustration before he blew the man's head apart with a single shot from his weapon. The fool was delirious due to the pain, most likely.

Suddenly, a strange thought snaked its way into his brain and he unconsciously activated his omni-tool. He frowned at what the scans showed.

The man had indeed inhaled the planet's microbes and would have died from a seizure if Lebrak had not found him. However, Lebrak stared in surprise at what else his scan told him. The microbes in the man's lungs were emitting a strange energy and it seemed to have altered his former subordinate's brain chemistry. It seemed to have resulted in a massive release of dopamine as well as act as a frighteningly powerful hallucinogen.

If the scan was accurate, this thing would make Red Sand and Hallex look like sugar pills.

A massive grin spread across Lebrak's face and he started to drag the corpse back toward his ship with renewed strength as a plan formed in his head.

All his problems might have just been solved. He was going to be rich. No more time spent in that cramped and rusted trash heap of a ship.

He was going to live like a king from now on.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN**: Feros and more combat next chapter.

Inverness: I can understand that. Keep in mind that this is paragon Shepard and she has a habit of being a little too trusting. Remember that Asari merc in Samara's recruitment mission?

Darkowl: Discreet by 40k standards ;) where a man with half his face and body replaced by cybernetics is normal.

* * *

"Shepard….I'm a very busy man, we all are. Just because you're a SPECTRE now, it doesn't give you the right to waste our time."

Jane squeezed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Look, can't you just stand someone here to confirm this?"

The Turian's eyes narrowed.

"There is nothing to confirm and you will do well to get back on your mission. Saren is still at large with an army of Geth. Do I need to remind you how dangerous he is? While you're here wasting our time, he's getting closer to achieving his goal."

Jane clumped her mouth shut for a couple seconds to keep herself from screaming in rage at these useless bureaucrats. It was a wonder how these people ever got into positions of power or how the Council had survived up until now. Though, if the Rachni Wars, Krogan Rebellions, and the Frist Contact War were anything to go by, Jane supposed the Citadel Council had never been too bright.

"And just what do you think Saren's goal is? I thought you didn't believe me about the Reapers."

The Turian, Sparatus, gave her a condescending look that made Jane's blood boil.

"We've been over this Shepard. Saren is using the Reaper myth to gain Geth support. His real goal is this 'Conduit". It's probably a Prothean super-weapon. In case you've forgotten Shepard, Humanity will probably be Saren's first target when he finds it."

Jane snarled in anger. She was glad that she was not face-to-face with the Council, because she wanted to punch that damn Turian so badly.

"Look, just send someone, anyone, and they'll tell you what I'm saying now. These people are from another universe!"

The smug Turian's eyes widened in mock astonishment.

"Ah yes, humans from another universe. This ten thousand year old 'Imperium of Man' that supposedly rules their galaxy. Do you take us for fools? Get back to your mission before we re-evaluate this situation and revoke your SPECTRE status."

Jane groaned loudly before turning to the Salarian councilor.

"Can't you send an STG unit to confirm what I said?"

The Salarian's hood obscured most of his facial expressions so that Jane could not tell what he thought about her claims. Not that she was an expert on alien facial expressions but it was a small comfort to be able to clearly see the man's face.

"Unfortunately, all cells are occupied at the moment. We're still trying to track down Saren's location and any anything else we can learn about his plans."

Jane sighed and turned to the Asari.

"Can you send someone?"

Sparatus suddenly cut in, prompting a scowl from Jane and an angry look from Tevos.

"No, we are not encouraging this kind of behavior."

The image of the Turian councilor promptly cut off. Jane sighed in relief. If that fool did not want to listen to her, then he can go do whatever it is he does while she gets this mess sorted out. Refocusing on Tevos, Jane crossed her arms and waited.

Tevos sighed before replying.

"You'll have to forgive Sparatus, he is under a lot of stress right now."

"Uh huh."

"Unfortunately, with Sparatus gone, we cannot authorize any united missions. It takes a vote by the entire Council to make important decisions and since he's not here…."

Jane could not believe what she was hearing. This was absolutely the worst political institution she had ever heard off.

"You mean to tell me that if just one Councilor decided to boycott the vote, then nothing can get done?"

Tevos gave her a patient smile that resembled something like a teacher being polite with a stubborn child.

"It is the way of things and it has served us well over the years. You humans are still new to galactic politics. Everything will work out."

Jane sighed in exhaustion and winced as she realized her ribs were still fractured. She really needed to get that that looked at soon. Chakwas said she might need surgery but Jane did not have the time. So she had told the Doctor to do what she could to let Jane get back into active duty. Chakwas had not been happy but Jane was glad to know that she understood how grave the situation was.

"Is there anything you can do?"

Tevos smiled and nodded at Valern. The Salarian cleared his throat before speaking.

"According to STG reports, the Geth has sent a small detachment to the colony of Feros. We think Saren might be there. The world is a former Prothean colony and their ruins still dot the surface. Our analysts say there is a good chance this Conduit might be there."

Jane pondered what she had just learned. That…creature had told her the Conduit was on Illos. So why was Saren going to Feros? Was the creature lying? With a scowl, Jane realized she still knew almost nothing.

"The Normandy suffered some damage during our meeting with the Imperial expedition, and we're just a frigate. Can you provide any aid?"

Tevos grinned and nodded.

"Sparatus left in such a hurry that he forgot to tell you. You are to be joined by a Turian cruiser and two frigates. They will assist your ship in breaking the Geth blockade and rescuing the colony. Your job is to locate Saren and eliminate him. Capture is preferable but do not restrain yourself."

Jane nodded but Tevos continued.

"One more thing, there might be a way for us to get around the deadlock. Bring a representative of this Imperium to the Citadel. Sparatus will have to face the truth if your claim checks out."

Jane sighed.

"Unfortunately, they did not send through anyone of high office or authority. Apparently, they were only planning to set up a base-camp on this side. They tell me it will be at least a month before their ambassador arrives."

Tevos' face remained neutral as she shrugged.

"Be that as it may, this might be the only way Sparatus will accept your claims."

Jane rubbed her eyes and realized just how tired she was.

"Right, I'll bring someone. But first, I have to save that colony."

Tevos nodded with a smile.

"Of course, Shepard. Is there anything else?"

Jane thought about what she knew so far before replying.

"Councilor, what can you tell me about Illos?"

Tevos frowned before replying.

"It's supposed to be a lost Prothean colony. We have a rough idea of where it is but the journey to the sector would take years. Myths say that there is a hidden mass relay leading to it but no one knows if it exists. It is like your human mythical city of Atlantis."

Jane sighed. That is just great. An extra-dimensional monster tells her that a rogue SPECTRE is looking for a lost super-weapon on some mythical world that may or may not even exist.

"Yea, that's everything, Shepard out."

As the two holograms flickered out, Jane closed her eyes for a second. She was so tired. By her account, she had not slept for thirty hours unless she counted being unconscious due to pain. She still had so much to do before she could leave for Feros. It would probably be another ten hours at least before the ship got under way and she could get some rest. Even at top speed, the trip to Feros would take the Normandy sixteen hours, which would give her at most eight hours of sleep. She felt like she needed every minute of it.

Sighing again, Jane took out the syringe Chakwas had given her and jabbed it into her neck. The effect was immediate as the potent cocktail flowed into her body. The haze that had settled over her mind began to clear and the pain in her chest dulled to an uncomfortable ache. Biotic power flared around her body before she forced it to dissipate. The substance was not physically addictive and it kept her going, but that was the only good things she could say about it.

Long term abuse would wreck her nervous system and lead to crippling brain damage. The mixture was used in the early days of the Alliance Biotic Program when human biotics were forced into the military and deployed as shock troops. The cocktail boosted a normal biotic soldier's combat effectiveness to that of an entire squad of heavy infantry.

Jane grimaced as she recalled what she learned during her biotic training.

Alliance scientists developed all sort of combat drugs during the panic after first contact with the Turians. They say Red Sand was one of the most potent but disgusting results of that venture. Jane was glad they soon outlawed general usage of biotic-enhancing drugs for Alliance personnel.

The cocktail she took was the only one that still saw usage in the Alliance military. N7 soldiers and black ops personnel were authorized to employ numerous weapons and equipment that would cause a civilian outcry if it became public. There were rumors that top secret Alliance units even wore armor with a chemical injector designed to fill their bloodstream with a volatile mixture of stimulants. It was probably true.

Sighing deeply before reactivating the communications link, Jane refocused on the screen. After a few minutes of waiting, the face of Ambassador Udina appeared.

Udina's eyes immediately widened upon seeing Jane's sorry state.

"Shepard, you look awful, what the hell happened?"

Jane gave the man a pained smile.

"I've been better. And you remember that crazy thing with the Reapers and the Protheans? Well…I got an even better one."

Udina's eyes narrowed.

"Shepard, does this have something to do with Sparatus calling you, and I quote, 'a mentally unstable woman with an overinflated sense of self-importance'?"

"Probably," Jane deadpanned as she massaged the bridge of her nose. "That Turian has some serious issues."

Udina gave her a cynical grin.

"That's an understatement. What did you do this time, Shepard?"

"Oh nothing, I just stumbled onto a portal going through hell itself that leads to another universe ruled by a ten thousand year old human empire."

Now it was the Ambassador's turn to lean forward and rub his forehead.

"Shepard…why do you insist on making my life hard every time you call?"

"It's a gift, sir."

* * *

"So…you're telling me that extra-dimensional ghosts took over seven of your men and turned them into monsters."

Udina snared.

"What the hell do I do when their families start demanding answers?!"

Jane kept her face stoic, but inside, she had been dreading this question.

"Tell them the truth sir. They deserve to know."

Udina scoffed loudly as he appeared to ponder the situation. After a minute, he finally responded.

"Alright, here's what we do. I'll make some calls and make the public think you were attacked by Batarian pirates. You said you took out a group at the portal? Then that's our cover."

Jane started to object but Udina waved his hand to forestall her protest.

"What happened was tragic, but we have to look at the bigger picture."

Jane narrowed her eyes as the Ambassador's tone betrayed his true opinion of the incident. As the slimy bureaucrat continued in his insulting tone, Jane balled her fists in anger.

"I want you to order your crew to keep quiet about everything that happened on that planet. Everything, the mutated crew, the portal and the woman from another universe. Tell them that they'll be arrested for treason if they breathe a single word of this to anyone."

Jane gritted her teeth in anger.

"I trust my crew."

Udina scoffed and shook his head.

"You are too damn naïve, Shepard. Everyone has a price where they'll sell out their own parents. It might not be money, it might not be their lives, but everyone has one. You really think everyone on your crew can keep his mouth shut if he's promised a hundred billion credits? Or threatened with the death of his family?"

"Get to the damn point."

"My point is that you better pray someone like the Shadow Broker doesn't get wind of this."

Jane remained silent, so Udina took that as his cue to continue his rant.

"What about the Council? What the hell possessed you to tell the Council before you came to me? What were you thinking?! You're damn lucky that Sparatus didn't believe a word you said."

Jane fought to maintain her composure. She realized that her biotics were flaring slightly and quickly suppressed her powers. Her voice came out like a growl.

"Tavos told me to bring a representative to the Citadel after we save Feros."

Udina cursed loudly before falling silent for a minute to contemplate the situation.

"Alright, you will tell the Feros task force that the Normandy is not combat ready. Then you will head straight for Arcturus Station with everyone that came through the portal."

"And if they refuse to come?"

Udina scowled at her.

"You're a soldier. What do you think? Just get them all to Arcturus. I'll try to distract the Council. Who knows? Maybe they'll forget this incident ever happened. The Batarians did it with that organic dreadnaught, we can do it too."

Jane crossed her arms. She had a gut-feeling about what Udina was going to pull.

"But the Council has a recording of my conversion, what are you going to do if they show it to the public and demand the Imperials?"

Udina kept his face blank but Jane noted the slight twitch of the corner of his lips.

"We'll say you had a breakdown due to combat stress combined with an allergic reaction caused by contact with the planet's microbes. You'll take a month off and then everything will back to normal."

Unbelievable. It seemed Jane had overestimated the man's commitment to saving the human race from Saren and his army of killer robots.

"Yea, except the part where you imprison a group of people from another universe and let Saren run wild."

Udina waved his hand dismissively in the air.

"The Council will send someone else after Saren. If your claims about the power of their weapons are true, just imagine what we can learn from them."

"And if they don't want to share?"

The Ambassador shrugged with frightening apathy considering he was talking about human lives.

"Then we'll just have to make do with whatever you can recover from the site."

Jane could not take this piece of trash posing as a human anymore.

"You know, Udina, you make me sick, you disgusting son of a bitch."

With a wicked grin, Jane cut the link, just in time to see Udina's face contort between shock and anger. That felt good. It almost made listening to how low a man could morally sink worth it. She could not fathom how Captain Anderson could stand to work with that sorry excuse for a human being.

Her mood slightly improved, Jane turned to head for the Med-Bay.

"You enjoy the show, Joker?"

The pilot's innocent voice immediately sounded over the intercom. Jane smiled as she glanced at the security camera.

"Ma'am, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Uh huh. Then how did you hear the question?"

"Uh…"

Jane shook her head in amusement.

"Tell the ground team to assemble in the briefing room in two hours."

"Roger that, ma'am. And it's about time you gave the esteemed Ambassador a piece of your mind."

* * *

+Report on your findings.+

Magos Biologis Lenz nodded before indicting his dissected test subject.

+Subject 03, best condition of all recovered specimens. Xeno Species AU-2, designation: Batarian. Gender: Presumably Male. Organ composition remarkably similar to that of humans. Four ocular nodes and standard musculature. No visible Warp mutations. No sign of psychic or anti-psychic abilities. No sign of EZ induced mutations.+

The Archmagos emitted a buzz of annoyance. They had been trying so hard to find any specimen with Element Zero mutations, but so far, all the bodies they had recovered around the site produced no viable subjects.

+Send it back through the portal. Send an astropathic message to the _Spirit of Discovery_ and tell them to prepare the cloning tanks. We'll create our own test subjects if the other specimens show no signs of mutation. Meanwhile, continue your research.+

Lenz bowed his head in acknowledgement before returning his attention to his specimens. He tried to concentrate on his work but he mainly listened as the rumbling steps of the Arch-Magos left his prefab-habitat and slowly faded. Releasing a buzz of relief, he turned around to inspect his workplace.

Lenz nearly jumped in shock when he noticed the figure standing next to the doorway. He took an involuntary step backwards in fear. The cloaked figure stared at him for another minute before silently departing to catch up with her charge.

* * *

Adept Irina watched as Magos Technicus Larzo and Magos Alchemys Mara rapidly disassembled the xenos vehicle. The two senior priests had barely performed the necessary rites of cleansing and sanctification before tearing into the machine with reckless abandon. It seemed wrong to abuse the machine spirit of this vehicle considering how long it had been enslaved by the xenos. Irina had thought they planned to destroy the shell and grant the spirit freedom but she was horrified to see what her superiors were doing.

They were studying the thing and trying to understand its functions. It was techno-heresy at its most basic. They continued to torture the machine spirit by keeping it confined in its prison instead of granting it peace. When she had tried to voice her objections, the two had told her to learn her place.

The two hereteks were now studying the strange core of the machine. A glowing blue sphere of metal that Larzo theorized to be the cornerstone of technology in this universe. The two of them were spouting blasphemies like it was nothing. Mara was talking of possibly incorporating the new substance into Imperial plasma technology while Larzo actually spoke of defacing the sacred Nova Cannons of Imperial ships by utilizing these vile xeno technologies.

Irina's job was to inspect the lesser technologies and she felt absolutely sick. When she had risen from the rank of Enginseer to her current position, she had felt honored to be assigned to one of the near mythical Ark Mechanicus Explorator Vessels. The Spirit of Discovery was a magnificent ship with a history older than that of the Imperium itself. Growing up on Mars to a family of menials, Archmagos Veneratus Flavion had been one of her childhood heroes. A daring adventurer venturing out into the depths of space and the ancient ruins of Mars itself to reclaim lost archeotech for mankind.

Now that she was in the same position, Irina was disgusted to see just how many of her fellow explorators seem to view the sacred laws of the Cult Mechanicus as nothing more than guidelines in their reckless pursuit of the Quest for Knowledge.

A slight trembling of the ground forecasted the arrival of the Archmagos and his retinue. The massive priest was flanked by his elite Protector servitor and a strange woman cloaked in the simple robes of all Mechanicus personnel.

The entire group paused their tasks and bowed as Flavion entered the habitat.

+Report on your findings.+

Mara stepped forward and indicted the core of the dissected vehicle.

+Initial analysis of Element Zero yielded interesting results. When feed with electricity, the substance will create a controllable field that alters the mass of objects inside. The mass-alternating field can be lowered to the negative values with the appreciate stimulus.+

Larzo indicted the vehicle as Mara finished her report.

+Using the technology from the recovered vehicle, we theorize that this element could be used to better contain plasma energy in weapons and reactors. Large weapons could have their mass altered to reduce recoil or allow it to be carried on smaller platforms. One interesting idea we shared is the Nova Cannon mounted th-+

"That is tech heresy!"

Irina could not take it anymore. This expedition was an affront to the Machine God and everything the Martian Brotherhood stood for.

Everyone in the room turned to face her but she refused to be intimidated.

Larzo's mechadendrites quivered in rage.

+How dare you accuse me?! I was studying the teachings of the Omnissiah while your grandparents were still embryos!+

+Enough.+

The Archmagos turned to Irina. He switched from Binary and addressed Irina in Low Gothic.

"Tell me, Adept Irina. What heresies have these two committed?"

Irina bowed in gratitude. Larzo stared at her form across the room with barely contained rage. She had no doubt that he would have killed her had Flavion not intervened.

"It is heresy to allow unsanctified technology to exist! We should have destroyed these vehicles as soon as we found them!"

Larzo could no longer contain his anger.

+Fool! How are we to learn anything if we destroy everything that is not made by us?!+

"We are supposed to find designs left to us by the Machine God! Not scavenge any xeno tech that we come across!"

Flavion finally intervened to break up the confrontation before it escalated.

"It is true that our quest has always been to find a functional STC. However, remember that all our templates are incomplete. Numerous machines that we rely on are created by combining the incomplete designs of the Machine God with the knowledge we gleamed from various other sources."

"Yes, but the Nova Cannon is already perfected. To think that we can improve on the designs of the Machine God is heresy."

Flavion's calm attitude began to slip and his voice came out of his vox-caster as a low growl.

"Who are you to say that the Nova Cannon has been perfected? Have you located a fully functional STC I was not aware of?"

Irina could no longer control herself. How could someone like Flavion think this way?

"It is not our place to assume that! Unless we find a STC that says otherwise, the current designs are a divine extension of the Machine God itself!"

Flavion finally snapped and his rage came out of his vox-caster like the wrath of a demi-god. Irina immediately knew she had misjudged her situation.

"Well, we do not have time to wait around and pray that we find one!"

Irina's eyes widened at the blatant heresies that Flavion was spouting.

"You…you are a heretek!"

A sharp buzz emitted from Flavion's frame and Irina recognized it as laughter.

"You are a foolish and naïve child. My orders and guidelines come from the Fabricator General of Mars himself. This expedition has the full backing of the Brotherhood and the High Lords of Terra. Who are you going to report this supposed heresy to? The Inquisition? The Ecclesiarchy?"

Irina slowly backed away in shock. Her mind riled at how far up this conspiracy went. She desperately looked around the room for any sign of help. Magos Mara had returned to studying the xeno vehicle while Larzo stood nearby, staring at her silently. Panic threatening to overwhelm her, Irina turned to run out of the room.

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from her back and Irina collapsed to her knees. Her vision started to blur and it became difficult to move. With a panicky cry, she realized her implants were failing. Her mechadendrite fell to the floor and her ocular implant began to malfunction. Ghostly after-images and flashes of color filled her vision.

As her vision dimmed, she saw the cloaked woman step into her vision. She held an elegant needle pistol in her right hand. Irina could feel the potent toxins making its way through her body. The ammo must have been specifically designed to target people with extensive bionic upgrades. Her body was somehow rejecting her implants. Blood began to leak out of her and pooled on the ground as the connection between the organic and mechanical parts of her body started to dissolve. It was starting to become hard to think straight as her neural micro-cogitators begun to malfunction.

As her entire body broke down, Irina could only watch as the woman pointed the weapon at her face and fired.

* * *

Killian sat before the portal and checked her mental defenses.

With a deep breath, she detached her soul from her body and flew toward the center of the portal. She did not dare to enter the warp completely and fought to maintain control as dark tendrils reached for her ethereal body.

She was constantly amazed by how calm the warp was here. In her own universe, she would never dare to venture this close to the Immaterium. She was tempted to dip one of her spectral limbs into the portal but she resisted the temptation. To do so was to sign her own death warrant and she knew the impulse was caused by her close proximity to the portal.

Summoning her telepathic powers, Killian projected a blast of willpower into the portal to the other side. Cocooned within the shell was a message for the Mechanicus astropath on the other side of the portal. It was to be relied to her Master on board the Silent Guardian as it made the journey to Segmentum Command. It contained a detailed recount of her mission so far and any insight she had gleamed from the minds of the Alliance ship. It would take her a lifetime to go through all the information herself. Fortunately, the Inquisitor had specially designed cogitators that would sort through everything in fraction of the time.

Sighing in exhaustion, Killian rose from her knees and headed for the base camp. They only had another two hours or so before the Mechanicus Logi estimated the Warp portal would become dangerous. That means the expedition has only two hours to finish their initial round of research and get it through the portal.

As she headed for the main habitat, she noticed a pair of menials dragging a body between them to the reprocessing tent.

Entering the command center, she noted that Flavion was going over the various weapons they found with two other Magi. The trio did not bother to greet her as she entered.

"Another one, hm?"

Flavion did not bother to turn away from his work.

"Yes, it is unfortunate. Adept Irina held such promise. Her remains will be honored by eternal service to the Machine God."

Killian cursed.

"That's the highest ranking one so far. We have to make sure everyone is on the same page before they return through the portal."

"Fear not, Interrogator. I recommend a purge of all junior personnel before we return."

Killian pondered the situation before replying.

"What about the Magi? Can they be trusted?"

"Yes, they have all been with me for decades."

Changing subjects, Killian decided to focus on their mission.

"Will your research be on schedule?"

Killian smiled at how enthusiastic the Archmagos became at the mention of technology.

"Yes, all preliminary testing of technology yielded interesting results. We will compile a report to send back along with as much Element Zero as we can salvage."

"What about testings into Element Zero mutations?"

"Unfortunately, none of the specimens recovered appeared to possess Element Zero nodes. We plan to attempt artificial creation with clones. We recommend you consult the humans of this universe about acquiring more Element Zero. The Fabricator Locum has authorized me to trade technology if necessary."

Killian nodded.

"I'll see what I can do."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN**: The two tech-priests are basically just throwing ideas out (which is HERESY). The most I might do is give them one or two kinetic barriers that are mostly salvaged from the mercs. You'll never see a billion plasma rifles or even light-weight bolters. I realized it would probably take them a hundred year to get anything new out the door because they have to see if it is "corrupt ie. Explodes in your face when you pull the trigger". That's not to mention the fact that the Admech will probably hoard the technology for another thousand years or so.

* * *

It was difficult to breath but Chakwas had assured her that the painful series of injections into her chest would repair her ribs by the time they arrived at Feros. Jane trusted the Doctor to know what she was doing. Occasional spikes of pain would slice through her chest but it was apparently normal as the chemical paste solidified around her bones.

As she walked into the briefing room, she was pleased to note that everyone was already present. Garrus had recovered from his injuries but Chakwas had warned Jane that the Turian marksman would not be able to keep up with the rest of the team. Wrex looked no worse for wear despite the fact that he suffered the worst injuries. The holes and cracks in his armor had already been sealed but the Krogan had not bothered to fix the dents and scratches.

Kaiden was the first to notice her and he promptly stood to attention and saluted her. Ashley immediately followed her superior's lead while the rest of the team merely gave her nods of acknowledgement.

"At east," Jane lazily returned the two marines' salutes and walked to the control panel. "It's been a really long day but this mess is about to become someone else's problem soon."

Ashley frowned but remained silent. Jane glanced at her expectantly until the marine sighed and voiced her thoughts.

"Are we turning them over to the Council?"

Jane grimaced inwardly as her conversation with Uldina resurfaced. With a tired sigh, she tried to reassure Ashley.

"We're not turning them over to anyone. We're just going to give their representative a ride to the Citadel before we continue with our original mission."

Tali looked up from her omni-tool.

"But what about the ship's repairs?"

"Feros is under attack right now, we don't have time to waste. I'll decide our next course of action depending on what happens on there."

Kaiden spoke up as Jane activated a map of the Attican Beta Cluster.

"What's the mission, ma'am?"

Jane zoomed in on the Hercules System and pointed at Eletania.

"We're here right now. The planet Feros is in the Theseus System, which is about sixteen hours away while using standard FTL. We'll concentrate on patching the ship up as best as we can for now then we'll rendezvous with a Turian taskforce at the edge of the system. That'll give them time to discharge their drives and buy us some extra time for repairs."

The map refocused on the Theseus System.

"As far as we know, the entire system is littered with Prothean ruins. Just the kind of place for them to stash a superweapon. With any luck, Saren himself will be there."

Ashley looked up at the mention of the rogue SPECTRE.

"If Saren is there, he'll have that super dreadnaught with him. How are we going to deal with it?"

Jane nodded in understanding. There was no way the damaged Normandy could take on that massive ship even with the support of three other vessels. They had no idea what that ship was capable of and it would likely be accompanied by an armada of Geth warships.

"The Normandy will scout out the system with our stealth system active while the task force waits on the edge of the system. If we confirm the presence of the dreadnaught, that'll probably mean Saren is there. In which case, we'll signal the Citadel for reinforcements while the Turian taskforce initiates hit-and-run tactics against the blockade to give us an opening for a covert drop."

"Do we know why he's there?"

Jane zoomed the map onto the ExoGeni settlement.

"Doesn't really matter. Whatever he's planning to do can't be good for the galaxy. His forces have taken over the main tower but there is still a minor outpost holding out against the assault. According to the distress signal, the remnants of the ExoGeni detachment have regrouped at an underground bunker but they're cut off from the outpost."

Jane refocused the map on the outpost of Zhu's Hope.

"There's an ancient Prothean docking bay next to that outpost. The site is an old Prothean skyscraper. It was under heavy Geth attack before the com-link went out. If there's still anyone alive, that's where they'll be. They set up a series of anti-aircraft guns and forced the Geth to advance across a narrow bridge to get to the site."

She shifted the map to show a massive bridge stretching between two spires towering above the clouds of the planet.

"After we secure the outpost, we'll shift our focus to finding out why Saren targeted this world and if he's still there, we'll attempt to take him."

Garrus chuckled.

"One ship against an army of Geth? This'll be interesting."

Wrex grunted in amusement.

"What's the matter, Vakarian? They'll be advancing down a narrow bridge. It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel full of fish."

Jane smiled. It was nice to see that the moral of her team was high. This mission was going to be the biggest operation they have conducted so far. In truth, Jane knew the chances of success were astronomical low. They would be outnumbered almost a hundred to one. However, if anyone could make this happen, Jane had faith that her team was the one.

"Alright people, get some rest. It'll be around eighteen hours before we arrive at Theseus. Dismissed."

* * *

"You're at war? With whom?"

This omni-tool was such an interesting device. It had a translator for every widely-spoken language in this universe. It could monitor her vital signs. It was amazing how something with so much potential was apparently so widespread that almost everyone possessed it.

Shepard's voice soon came back with crystal clear quality.

"They're called the Geth. They're a race of sentient machines that drove their creator species into exile almost three hundred years ago."

Flavion emitted a buzz of astonishment and his cabal of magi immediately began to converse amongst themselves.

Killian frowned. She had never fought abominable intelligences before. Her powers were almost completely useless against machines. Even servitors still possessed a mind she could manipulate. The fabled Necrons were the only substantial race of machines the Imperium has faced but she was not well versed in their lore.

Flavion drew her out of her contemplations as the priests concluded their debate. It must have taken them less than five seconds.

"Interrogator, this would be an excellent opportunity to study the strength of the species in this universe. We theorize that an offer of aid could be leveraged to our advantage during future negotiations. Besides, rogue machine spirits are an abomination that must be cleansed,"

Killian raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You want to help them?"

"That is correct."

Killian hesitated. She was supposed keep an eye on these tech-priests to make sure the portal was stable. But now that they had the key, all the techpriests have to do was activate it during the scheduled time every month.

"This camp isn't exactly a fortress monastery. We barely have a dozen skitarii and combat servitors. We don't have the resources to offer any substantial aid."

"Consider it a reconnaissance mission to gouge the strength of our future friends and enemies."

He was right. She was going to have to be the one to meet this universe's xenos leaders. Depending on how the situation plays out, this offer of assistance could give her an estimate of their military capabilities. Killian sighed and activated her omni-tool.

"Commander, I would like to offer you my assistance on this mission. Consider it my way of apologizing for the various misunderstandings that occurred during our first meetings."

The link was silent for a few seconds and Killian thought Shepard not might agree. When the Commander's voice sounded over the vox, Killian smiled.

"I won't turn away help, but you have to know that I will not be responsible for your safety in the field. Do you have any combat experience?"

"Yes Ma'am, I served in the Imperial Guard for two years before I was assigned to the Diplomatic Corps."

"This mission will be extremely dangerous. Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Killian decided it would be easier to convince the woman by just being somewhat honest.

"I am still a soldier. I will gladly give my life for the Emperor. I want to see the enemies of humanity with my own eyes so that the people of the Imperium are not caught non-aware."

A slight pause before Shepard responded.

"Welcome aboard the SSV Normandy, Lieutenant Ibrena."

* * *

So much time and effort put into something only for it to get blown up before it saw any serious action.

Garrus sighed as he glanced at the wreckage of the Mako. The wreckage had been pushed to the corner of the cargo bay to make room for the extensive repairs the Normandy needed. It was probably going to be melted down for scrap when they reached an Alliance naval base.

The APC had been completely destroyed. The element zero core had raptured, filling what was left of the passenger compartment with dangerous particles. Both drive axels had snapped and the drive shift had been partially vaporized. The main gun's shells had cooked off and blown the turret apart. The only thing that could be salvaged was the battery powering the vehicle.

Returning his attention to his beloved sniper rifle, he expertly dissembled the gun. Picking up a small mass effect brush, he carefully cleaned the inside of the barrel before turning his attention to the heat sink. His custom ordered heat sinks had been designed to absorb the increased heat generated by his more powerful rails but at the cost of a shorter operational limit. Garrus delicately replaced the sink in preparation for the battle ahead. Finally, he replaced the standard proton charged ammo block with one composed of an explosive alloy.

His maintenance complete, Garrus reassembled the sniper rifle and began to calibrate the sights. Shepard had told him his injury limited his mobility on the advice of Doctor Chakwas. Garrus had protested but the Commander had been adamant about keeping him out of the most intense fighting. He was to find a nice vantage point and cover the bridge. It irked him that Shepard did not trust him enough to do his part, but deep down he knew his injury would only be a liability to the team.

At that moment, Shepard walked up the cargo ramp with another person in toll. Glancing in their direction, Garrus was surprised to see that it was the so-called 'Portal Woman'. The repair crews were all stealing glances at the new arrival but Garrus returned his attention to his weapon.

Apparently, he had missed all the excitement while recovering in the Med Bay. As the rumors went, her people had set up a camp at the portal and the Normandy was supposed to play Taxi and get their representative to the Citadel. It was stupid to be distracted by issues like these while Saren was still loose. The significance of the event was not lost on him but he did not understand why it had to be the Normandy when the Council could sent another patrol ship.

He looked up again as two pairs of two footsteps stopped in front of him. Jane was looking at him with an exhausted smile and indicted her guest.

"Garrus, meet Lieutenant Killian Ibrena. Killian, this is Garrus Vakarian."

Setting his weapon aside, Garrus rose to his feet and held out his hand.

"Lieutenant, I don't believe we ever got a proper introduction. It's good to see you up and about."

The woman gave him a funny look but Garrus was not familiar enough with human facial expression to tell what it signified. She then looked at his outstretched hand and took it after a few seconds of hesitation. The touch was brief and she quickly broke contact.

Shepard cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Garrus here was one of the people who brought you back from the portal."

The woman, Killian, gave a stiff nod and a thin smile.

"In that case, I must thank you for possibly saving my life."

"Don't mention it. I take you'll be joining us on our mission?"

Shepard stepped in help move the awkward conversation along.

"Yea, she wanted to help us fight the Geth and see their capabilities for herself so she can report it back to her people. The Council wanted to have a chat with her anyway so I thought why make a return trip to Eletania, right?"

Garrus noded.

"We need all the help we can get on Feros. I'm excited to see what you people are capable of."

Killian gave him a guarded smile.

"I'll try not to disappoint."

Shepard coughed awkwardly again before turning to them with a big laugh on her face.

"Listen, guys. Doctor Chakwas wants to see me and I have so much to do, so…Garrus, why don't you show Miss Ibrena around the ship and introduce her to the crew? Don't worry, he won't bite."

Garrus sighed as Shepard gave him an encouraging smile before heading for the elevator. Putting his rifle away and getting up from the crate he had been sitting on with a groan, he headed for the other side of the Cargo Bay.

"Alright, come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

Killian nodded and fell into step behind him silently.

"So, Garrus, how did you end up on a human ship?"

Garrus glanced behind him to see the woman staring at him intently. He thought about it for a second before shrugging.

"I just got tired of never being able to do the right thing. I wanted to just go on a mission with a clear cut-bad guy without any bureaucrats telling me what I can't do."

Killian fell silent for a second before her eyes widened in surprise.

"You're serious. But isn't this Saren a Turian as well? How do you feel about fighting one of your own?"

Garrus snarled in disgust.

"Saren is a damn traitor who threw out everything he believed in for a mad grab at power. I can't stand people like him. If I had my way, Saren would be dead already."

Killian smiled.

"Interesting, I thought you were just a mercenary at first, but it appears I was wrong. I take you don't have a very high opinion of this Citadel Council?"

Garrus shrugged again.

"I understand that some bureaucracy is necessary and the rules are there for a reason. But I just can't accept the rules if they let a bad guy get away with hurting people. If a law is obstructing justice, then it should removed or changed or whatever. The laws are there to protect the innocent, not the criminals."

"A very simple but practical view on life."

"People say it's more complicated than that, but it's not. If you hurt other people, then you desire whatever comes your way. Criminal organizations these days run wild because they have a good lawyer and publicity even though everyone knows they're guilty. It's the reason I joined Shepard, because out here, there's no one to tell me I can't go after a perp because of some technicality."

The pair continued in silence toward Wrex who was polishing his shotgun and did not bother to look up at their approach. Garrus had to clear his throat twice before the Krogan bothered to glance at them.

"What?"

"Wrex, this is Killian, she'll be joining us on the Feros mission. Shepard told me to show her around and introduce her to everyone."

The Battlemaster looked at Killian with an analytical glaze that seemed out of place on a Krogan. After a silent minute, Wrex chuckled.

"Seen a lot of fighting have you? The sword's not for show, is it?"

Killian visibly tensed but kept her face straight.

"No, I've fought in over a dozen campaigns across the Imperium."

Wrex grinned savagely.

"Good, I look forward to seeing how you people fight."

Killian returned his icy smile.

"I see expectations are high. I'll try not to disappoint."

Wrex grunted before returning his attention back to his weapon.

Killian glanced at Garrus, who shrugged before heading toward the elevator.

"So, he's a mercenary?"

"Wrex? Yea, he's a Krogan battlemaster. People say that after the Krogan Rebellions, there are less than a hundred of them left. Most became warlords while the others, like Wrex, sell themselves out as elite bodyguards and mercenaries."

"Are you sure he can be trusted? Mercenaries aren't exactly known for their loyalty."

Garrus shrugged. He was doing that lot today.

"Wrex isn't doing this for pay. Now that you mention it, I don't really know why he's tagging along."

"What? That seems rather…dangerous."

"Wrex has a reputation for being honorable. If he says something, he'll stick to his word."

Killian did not seem satisfied but remained silent. In truth, Garrus did not know why they brought the Krogan along. He was an excellent fighter but the team knew almost nothing about him. Garrus did not see him betraying the team, but that did not mean the Krogan did not have an ulterior motive.

He just prayed to the Spirits that their trust would pay off.

* * *

Now that she had formally explored the ship, Killian had mixed feelings about the power of this Systems Alliance. The ship was so small it was barely largely than a heavy assault boat. She understood it was it was designed for stealth missions but it still felt like flying in a tin-foil bag that could rip open at any minute. The Quarian girl, Tali, had bragged about the ship being the most advanced vessel in the Alliance Navy, and so far Killian was not very impressed.

It was so small that the ship had a crew of less than fifty people. She could count the number of provosts onboard with her fingers. If the ship was hit with a boarding pod, which might just cause the ship to break apart, she did not know how they planned to repel the boarders.

However, what really interested her was the fact that these people had an FTL that did not rely on the Warp and a mind blowing galaxy-wide communications network. They had a database accessible from anywhere with a connection called the ExtraNet that would make Flavion giddy with excitement.

But one thing she was surprised by was the fact that they actually had coffee. Not recaff or the synthetic goop that most Imperials drank, but actual coffee. They had jars full of beans that would have cost a fortune back on Holy Terra. The only time Killian recalled where she drank real coffee was after her promotion to the rank of Interrogator. Captain Varnias had opened a container of the rare beans in celebration.

Of course, Killian hated the taste and nearly spat it out but it was the thought that counted.

As she poured herself a cup of the exotic drink, something caught her eye and she gasped as she saw what it was.

It was a picture of Earth.

Not Holy Terra.

Earth.

With its oceans and forests still intact.

At first, she thought she had mistaken it for another planet, but upon closer inspection, there could not doubt. She recognized the coast-lines and continents.

The Imperial Palace was missing. The hive-cities were gone. The ugly scars caused by the Arch-Heretic's attack were nowhere to be seen.

But it was definitely the heart of the Imperium and the cradle of human civilization.

"Something wrong?"

Killian had been so stunned that she did not hear the person approach. Snapping her head around, she half relaxed as she saw that it was Shepard. Smiling, she indicted the picture.

"Is that Hol…I mean, ah, Earth?"

Shepard gave her a confused look before replying.

"Of course it is. I thought your homeworld was Earth."

Returning her attention to the picture, Killian studied the fabled landscape of Ancient Earth again.

"Yes, but it's…different where I come from. Different, but still similar in so many ways."

"Were you born there?"

It was probably a bad idea to get too familiar with the woman, but she did not seem like the type to backstab someone. Besides, Killian's personal information hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things. She just prayed that it would not return to ruin her day in the future.

"No, I was born on Elysia. I…moved to Earth when I was still an infant."

Shepard frowned at something but before she voiced her concern, Pressly's voice sounded over the ship-wide vox network.

"Attention all personnel, we are one hour away from the Theseus System. All crew, prepare for combat. We are now at Alert Status Yellow. Commander Shepard to the CIC."

Shepard immediately made for the stairs, but stopped on the landing and turned to Killian.

"Do you have a suit that can survive in vacuum?"

Killian nodded.

"Yes, my body-glove will operate in a vacuum for an hour but I can only withstand the perils of open space for ten minutes before radiation gets through."

"Then get suited up and link up with the rest of the team in the Cargo Bay."

Killian cursed inwardly. She needed to assess their space capabilities and there was no way she'd be able to do that from the cargo bay.

"Commander, I'd like to see the battle with my own eyes so I can get a sense of the enemy's strength. I promise not to interfere in the performance of your men."

Shepard hesitated for second, but eventually nodded.

"Alright, just keep out of the way during combat and find something to grab onto. Joker has a nasty reputation for uncomfortable flying."

* * *

"Five minutes until we reach Theseus."

Jane stood on her command platform and stared at the map of the Attican Beta Cluster.

"Raise the alert status to condition red. I want a status report on all stations."

Pressly nodded before returning his attention to his operations console.

The crew had repaired the damage to the ship systems but the hall plating in the cargo bay was still heavily damaged from the battle. If an mass accelerator round got through their kinetic barrier and hit the weakened plating, it would gut the ship.

Fortunately, the Normandy was never designed for slug matches with other ships.

"All stations report combat ready, Commander."

"Good, drop us out of FTL on the edge of the system and engage the stealth system. I want com-silence and no active scans. Laser communications only."

"Coming up on the exit point, Commander. Exiting FTL in five, four, three, two."

Jane grabbed the railing and prepared herself for inertia shift.

"One, existing FTL."

"Report."

Pressly worked ferociously at his console before finally replying.

"Fotilla accounted for. Stealth system engaged."

Jane nodded.

"Move us toward Feros at eighty percent thrust."

A slight bump shook the ship as the engines kicked in and pushed the vessel forward. The door to her right opened and Jane glanced back to see Killian arrive on the CIC. She nodded toward Jane, who responded by indicting an empty spot next to the tactical map.

"Approaching the planet, will be in passive sensor range in ten minutes."

The galaxy map changed into an overlay of the Theseus System. At the center was a star of normal size orbited by five planets. Their target was the second planet in the system. The planet was an ugly shade of gray with two moons.

It was strange. An armada of any significant size would have scouts patrolling the edge of the system. Even if they did not detect the Normandy, the ship would have detected them or at least picked up on their scans. That meant either the armada had left or that the Geth had not come in force.

Unless, the Geth had developed stealth technology of their own? No, there was no way they could maintain the system for an extended period of time. It would be a waste to equip such an expensive system onto a simple patrol vessel.

But, did the Geth think the same way humans did? It could make sense to them.

Pressly shook her out of her guessing as they approached the planet.

"Entering sensor range. Numerous satellites in decaying orbits. Records show most of them as ancient Prothean installations. I am detecting five Geth frigates and a cruiser."

Jane frowned. It was a lot less than they were expecting and the massive dreadnought was not present. Unfortunately, the enemy ship still outnumbered and outgunned the Council Task Force. If the Normandy was to make for the surface, the ensuing space battle could end very badly for the Turians and once the Turians were defeated, the Geth fleet could rain down orbital fire on their position.

Jane scowled and turned to Pressly.

"Signal the Task Force to attack. Tell them we'll sneak up on the Geth cruiser and try to knock it out before they can detect us. If we approach from orbital sector 527 toward sector 331, that'll give us time to fire a salvo into its reactor core before the frigates can realign their main guns."

Joker's voice sounded over the intercom.

"Roger that, ma'am, I'll make it happen. I recommend we make a run for the second moon after the attack and re-engage the stealth system."

"Good idea, do it."

Jane returned her attention to Pressly.

"Give a one minute warning before disabling artificial gravity and venting the atmosphere. Cut power to all non-essential secondary systems."

As the lights dimmed to dull blue, Jane felt a mixture of anticipation and anxiety crept into her mind.

This was it. Her first real naval engagement as the commanding officer of not just a warship, but a small battle group. If she screwed up, a lot of people were about to die. Jane returned her attention to the map as the blinking light representing the Normandy crept ever closer to the Geth formation.


	13. Chapter 13

As the Turian flotilla accelerated into the system at combat speed, the Geth moved to respond. The four frigates redeployed from their blockade position in order to act as a screen for the cruiser. The formation positioned itself in front of Feros, forcing the Turians to maneuver into a new firing position unless they wanted to hit the planet behind the Geth ships. In any conventional battle, the chances of success for the Citadel forces were slim. The Geth warships possessed superior weapons, barriers and aiming.

Fortunately for the Turians, this battle was going to be the combat debut of the SSV Normandy and the start of a new era in space warfare.

The sleek frigate drifted silently underneath the Geth formation. They had a clear view of the underbelly of the strange insectoid-looking cruiser. They had to time this perfectly or the Geth armada would rip them apart.

Jane held her breath as the opening salvo from both sides commenced. The Turian cruiser Valor opened fire with its dual mass accelerator cannons while the Geth cruiser responded by firing its main heavy caliber cannon. However, at this extreme distance, the shots were easily dodged by both sides.

Fortunately, that was Jane's plan. The Geth formation immediately scattered as the barrage from the Valor ripped through the space they occupied seconds ago. The formation was still in effect, but Jane just needed them to move further apart so that the gardian lasers of the frigates would be ineffective against the Normandy.

So far so good.

Jane activated the com-link to Joker.

"Alright Joker, show time. Move us in and remember the plan."

The pilot immediately responded with a confidence that served to comfort the CIC crew.

"Roger that, Commander. The Geth won't know what hit them."

The Normandy began to silently drift toward the unsuspecting Geth armada as the Turian taskforce charged forward. So far, the long range artillery duel of the cruisers were dealing negligible damage to each other, Jane just hoped that this plan worked or they were all going to die.

As the two Turian frigates closed with the enemy, they released a massive torpedo barrage at the Geth cruiser. As anticipated, the Geth frigates immediately moved forward to protect their command ship with concentrated laser fire. Of the dozen torpedoes that were launched, less than five made it pass the gauntlet and raced toward the cruiser.

This was their chance.

"Now Joker!"

The Normandy immediately blasted toward the isolated Cruiser with its stealth system still active. The cruiser did not detect their approach as it opened fire with its gardian laser batteries. One torpedo after another exploded before they reached their target until only two remained.

The cruiser desperately fired one last barrage and managed to knock out one more torpedo before the last guided missile impacted with the Geth warship.

The disruptor torpedo's phasic shielding allowed it to penetrate the powerful kinetic barriers of the cruiser and slam into the bow of the ship. The torpedo burst through the armor plating and blew the entire forward section of the ship apart. The cruiser seemed to reel back in pain as its engines flickered out and it began to list to the side from the force of the blast.

Perfect. The Turian flotilla immediately disengaged and reversed their directions as the Geth frigates moved to avenge their flagship. The pursuing Geth ships fired their own torpedo barrage as their weaker cannons allowed the retreating Valor to pound them with impunity.

The battle moved further and further away from the planet. The Geth were probably hoping to chase the Turian fleet away and buy the cruiser time to escape. It would have worked had they been fighting a conventional battle.

The Normandy raced toward the crippled warship and fired its own torpedo barrage. The unfortunate Geth ship's remaining lasers blew two of the four missiles apart but the remaining ones punched through the weaker armor of the cruiser's belly and detonated inside the ship.

The cruiser shook as internal explosions rocked the once proud warship. The Normandy closed to less than ten kilometers and delivered the killing blow. The forward mass accelerator cannon fired again and again. The weakened reactor of the cruiser could not sustain its kinetic barriers against the onslaught and its only remaining protection collapsed.

The rounds tore into the ship's midsection and impacted against its munitions storage. The resulting chain reaction blew the cruiser in half. The Normandy blasted past the destroyed ship and raced for the second moon as the four Geth frigates stopped their pursuit of the Turians and drifted about in confusion.

Jane let out the breath she had been holding as the CIC erupted into cheers. She knew the battle was far from over, however.

"Pressly, status report."

Pressly frowned and scowled before yelling for the crew to quiet down. The cheering immediately stopped as the crew somberly returned to their stations. After a minute, Pressly cursed and turned to Jane.

"One of the Turian frigates has been crippled and the crew had to abandon ship. The Turians are regrouping with us at the moon while the four remaining Geth frigates have moved back into their blockade position."

Jane cursed. She knew that casualties were inevitable in war but that did not mean she did not care. Those men had died under her command, even if she barely knew them. Unfortunately, the loss of one of the frigates was a serious blow to the Task Force's ability to engage the remaining Geth ships.

"Open to a link to the Turian commander."

After a minute, a Turian voice sounded over Jane's com-link.

"Commander Shepard, this is Captain Maximus of the Valor. The plan worked just as we hoped. Now is your chance to get to the surface while we take care of the remaining ships."

Jane grimaced.

"Captain, those Geth frigates will rip you to shreds the minute the minute they enter firing range. I recommend you retreat and call for reinforcements."

"No, people are dying on that colony and I was ordered to save them. We don't have time to send for reinforcements. We'll take out the Geth ships, no matter what it takes."

Jane was stunned into silence. It was practically suicide. The chances of them destroying the Geth ships were slim already, and even if they succeeded, the casualties would be immense.

But he was right. Jane cursed as she realized the Turian was right. They had to make a choice now. Either run or try to save the colony. If they ran, the Geth would kill everyone left on the planet and Jane would never find out why Saren attacked. In the end, she did not have a choice.

"Alright Captain, the Normandy will launch a surprise attack to try and cripple one of the ships for you."

The Turian sighed before replying.

"I appreciate the offer Commander, but the mission perimeters were to get you safely to the planet. I can't have you risk yourself like this. We can't assume the Geth will fall for the same trick twice."

"And if you get yourselves killed, there's nothing stopping the Geth from bombing us into oblivion. This is the best way or we can wait here arguing all day."

After a silent minute, the Turian finally responded.

"Spirits damn it, Shepard. Fine, we'll do it your way."

Jane smiled and was about to cut the link before the Turian said one last thing.

"And, thank you, Commander."

* * *

Captain Augustus Maximus gazed over the faces of his crew and felt his heart burn with pride. This crew would follow him to the jaws of hell itself if he gave the order. The following battle would be just that. The chances of survival were minimal. However, Turians had always placed duty above their own lives.

"You men are the best crew a captain could ever ask for. You perform your duty with both skill and courage. It has been the greatest pleasure of my life to serve alongside you. If we are to die, we will die with honor and without fear for we know that our sacrifice will bring about a brighter tomorrow. For victory!"

His bridge crew immediately returned his salute.

"No matter the cost!"

Augustus beamed with pride as he climbed onto his command platform and his crew returned to their stations. They knew this was likely to be the Valor's last battle. And what a battle it will be! Their ship crest will be honored in the Halls of Palaven for all future generations to see.

"Status report!"

This sensor officer immediately responded with the speed and efficiency he demanded of his crew.

"The Normandy is in position behind the Geth formation, Captain!"

"Then now is the time for us to perform our duty. Take us out from behind the moon and open fire with the main guns at maximum range. We'll force them to break formation and come to us."

The Valor shuddered as the thrusters powered on. The proud Turian cruiser silently glided out from behind Feros' moon and faced the Geth armada.

Their last engagement had resulted in his fleet damaging two of the frigates and destroying the kinetic barrier emitters of a third. It had cost him the frigate Septimus. A good exchange considering the difference in power.

The dual cannons on the wings of the Valor sounded again and again. High velocity rounds sped toward the Geth frigates. Most missed their marks as the ships broke formation while others impacted with the kinetic barriers of the Geth warships as they advanced to finish off the Turian armada.

"Order the Zira to remain in position while we lure the Geth in. I want them to come around the other side of the moon and hit the robots from behind."

The single undamaged frigate led the charge against the mighty Valor as its damaged comrades followed behind it. The one without kinetic barriers hung in the back.

"Target the damaged ships first. Load all tubes. Launch torpedo spread. Everything we have left."

The sides of the Valor opened and eight torpedoes blasted out of the ship. The four frigates immediately opened fire with their laser defenses as the potent anti-ship weapons raced through space toward their targets. Combined laser fire destroyed all but one of the torpedoes and Maximus snared in satisfaction as one of the already damaged ships was hit.

The warhead buried itself deep into the engines of the Geth warship before exploding. The damage to its fusion reactor caused a torrent of fire to erupt through the ship as its engines flickered out. With a brilliant flash, the ship broke apart. A massive piece of broken armor plating slammed into the unprotected hull of the unshielded Geth frigate and embedded itself into its engine compartment, resulting in a series of explosions that slowly tore the crippled warship apart.

Maximus' happiness at the results was short lived as the remaining Geth ships opened fire on his beloved vessel. Torpedoes and cannon rounds sped toward his ship as the Geth frigates raced to close the distance.

The Valor's lasers knocked out more than nine enemy torpedoes but the remaining three got through. They slammed into the Valor with enough force to cause the vessel to go into an uncontrolled spin. The first torpedo blew the right wing of the Valor off along with its cannon. The remaining torpedoes ripped into the hull of the ship and blew massive holes into its superstructure.

On the bridge, the impact of the torpedoes had instantly killed more than half his crew. The normal lighting had been replaced by flickering emergency lights and fires raged across the room. Maximus winced in pain as he regained consciousness. Turning to inspect his injuries, he snarled in ager as he saw a section of his command platform's railing had snapped off and impaled him. He winced as the piece of shrapnel embedded in his chest caused blinding pain to wash over him. Clutching his mandibles, he limped to his dead executive officer's station and pushed the body aside.

"All personnel, this is the captain. Abandon ship. Abandon ship."

Wreckage and bodies floated across the CIC as Maximus slowly limped toward the cockpit. When he arrived, he was surprised to see his flight officer still there. He snared in anger.

"I gave you an order to abandon ship, soldier."

Lieutenant Victus looked up at him before returning his attention to his console.

"Captain, if you are staying here then so am I."

Maximus growled in anger and winced as the effort caused a new wave of pain to explode into his chest. The blood lose was going to take him soon as the edge of his vision was already starting to darken.

"Get your ass into the escape pod or I'll have you court martialed for insubordination during combat."

Victus pointed at his sensor monitor. Maximus scowled and glanced at what his pilot wanted him to see. His eyes widened in surprise.

The undamaged Geth ship had been destroyed.

"Sprits, what happened?"

"That stealth ship made an attack run more reckless than a Krogan berserker during blood rage. Managed to disable the frigate's barriers with point-blank laser fire before blowing it apart with its main gun. Unfortunately, it took some laser fire in return for its troubles and had to disengage."

Maximus slammed his fist against the bulkhead.

"Damn fool! She could have gotten her ship blown apart! What's the status of the Zira?"

"She's engaging the last frigate. It's a slug match but if they can get a round into that weakened armor, they'll gut the Geth ship."

"What about our weapons? Anything left to fight with?"

"Engines are at ten percent power. Both guns are disabled. No remaining torpedoes. GARDIAN lasers are off-line. Are you thinking what if I'm thinking, sir?"

Despite everything, Maxiumius chuckled.

"Just like your reckless fool of a father."

Then he grabbed the young Turian's head and slammed it into the bulkhead with enough force to leave a bent. The pilot immediately fell limp and Maximus scowled as he hauled the man off the chair and into an escape pod. His injury would have crippled him if the artificial gravity was still on. Fortunately, he was able to wrestle the young man into the pod and seal the door.

As the last remaining escape pod sped away from his dying ship, Captain Augustus Maximus limped back toward the cockpit.

* * *

"Damage report! And patch that hole up!"

Jane struggled to pick herself up as secondary explosions rocked the ship. She was thankful that she decided to vent the atmosphere prior to the start of combat because she was sure the CIC would be a firestorm right now if she's had not. A sizable gash had been sliced into the wall of the CIC from a stray Geth laser attack. It was a miracle the glancing hit had not incinerated every one on the Command Deck.

Pressly stumbled back to his station as damage reports flooded in.

"Hull breaches on all three decks. Main gun is off-line. Engines are at fifty percent. Coolant is leaking into space. GARDIAN lasers off-line. Casualties….none so far."

Jane sighed in relief as she climbed back onto the command platform. The Valor was crippled worse than they were and the last Turian frigate, the Zira, was trading blows, badly, with the last Geth frigate. It was a toss-up whether they would win.

Suddenly, a com-link request appeared on her personal console. Jane frowned and activated it.

"Commander, this is the Valor. You better get out of here while you still can. The Zira is taking heavy damage and won't be able to stall that Geth ship for long."

The situation was not looking good. If the Geth managed to destroy the Turian frigate, then the rest of them were easy pickings. Under the circumstances, she only had one choice left.

"Captain, get to an escape pod. We'll pick all the survivors then make a run for the edge of the system to regroup. Order the Zira to hold out as long as they can before retreating. If the Geth return to its position in orbit, it'll give us time to make repairs and destroy it later. If it leaves the system, even better."

"No Commander, it's too dangerous and you still have a vital mission on the surface. It has been an honor, Shepard. For victory."

Jane scowled as she realized what the Turian was planning to do.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Stand down! I am ordering you as SPECTRE to stand down!"

Static.

The com-link had been disabled.

* * *

The Geth frigate fired one last volley into the kinetic barriers of the Zira before they finally collapsed under the superior firepower of the Geth warship. One last round slammed into the Turian ship's engines and sheered the entire wing off. Explosions rocked the now crippled vessel as the Geth frigate moved in for the kill.

Suddenly, the half-wrecked Valor's remaining drive-pod activated. Her captain pushed his ship's reactor past critical levels and dumped all the power he could into the raptured Element Zero drive core. The mass of the once mighty Valor decreased little by little until it was barely anything. Then with a final boost of power from the emergency batteries, the ship accelerated at near light-speed toward the Geth frigate.

The Geth ship tried to escape its fate by going into FTL but the damage it sustained from the battle finally caught to it. Its reactor overheated and automatically entered emergency venting mode. Without power, the Geth programs calculated that their chance of survival was minimal. They immediately transferred themselves off the doomed ship.

The Valor slammed into the now lifeless Geth ship with the force of an anti-matter bomb and both vessels disappeared in a blinding explosion that sent the Zira tumbling away from the massive shockwave.

As the light faded, both ships had disappeared, barely leaving behind any debris that showed the bloody battle that had been waged above the skies of Feros.

* * *

Killian thanked the God Emperor that she was still alive. What had possessed her to agree to this stupid idea was beyond her comprehension. This ship had come so close to being destroyed that Killian was half-expecting the Emperor Himself to walk up to her and tell her she was dead. She did not understand how anyone would be willing to fight in a ship like this. An Aquila shuttle had more armor plating than this supposed warship!

She was waiting in the Cargo Bay again as the ship made the slow descent into the atmosphere of the planet they were here to save. From what she was hearing from the crew, the battle had been so close that had the Turian flagship had not made a suicide run, they would probably have been destroyed.

The other Turian ship was apparently picking up all the survivors while the Normandy headed to the surface. She was glad she made this trip, because she was starting to realize something.

The humans in this universe have not experienced a civilization collapse like humanity before the Imperium. All their technology was developed through science and experimentation instead of recovering lost technologies. They might not have advanced technologies, but they did possess fundamental knowledge of how basic technology works that the Mechanicus does not.

It was certainly interesting to see the contrast.

The rest of the ground team was suiting up at the weapons locker, so Killian wandered over to see their equipment.

Kaiden saw her approach and waved to get her attention.

"Killian, Commander Shepard told me to equip you with a kinetic barrier emitter."

Killian nodded in thanks as the Lieutenant attached a small module to her omni-tool. He activated his own interface and after a few seconds of tinkering, Killian heard a buzz as a wave of energy surrounded her for a second before disappearing.

So this was a kinetic barrier. Flavion had told her about the ballistic energy shields the dead mercenaries were equipped with. They could stop projectile weapons but not energy. Kaiden pressed a few more buttons before turning to her.

"Alright, that should do it. I've linked it up to your omni-tool. You can check your shield status with it now. Just activate it and it should be in 'general displays'."

Killian tinkered with her omni-tool for short while before nodding her thanks. This strange device was going to take some getting used to.

The rest of the team had all grabbed their weapons and helmets, so Killian decided to do the same. She walked over to the locker she had been assigned when she came on board and opened it. After several seconds of pondering, she decided to grab her force sword, inferno pistol and an autopistol for backup. Finally, she grabbed her skull-shaped rebreather mask before closing the locker.

Tucking her hair into her bodyglove, she slipped the mask over her face before pulling her psy-hood over her head. After a second, the eyes of the skull began to glow a menacing dark red and Killian was treated to amused glances from other team members.

"What?"

Kaiden indicted her helmet.

"Is that stuff standard where you come from?"

"No, I'm not part of the regular military. The mask is designed to inspire fear into my enemies."

Ashley scoffed.

"Well, it's not going to make the Geth run away, that's for sure."

Before Killian could respond, Shepard's voice sounded over the ship vox.

"Ground team, assemble at the airlock. We'll be docking at Zhu's Hope in five minutes."

Kaiden nodded and turned to the team.

"Alright people, let's move."

* * *

Tali checked her weapons and barriers again as the agonizingly slow decontamination protocol worked. She was nervous. According to everyone, this place was going to be a full-blown warzone. She had fight in some small battles but she had never been in anything of this scale. In fact, the Quarian marines had not had a engagement like this in decades. This was a good opportunity to see the capabilities of the Geth.

The battle in space painted a grim image for the Qurians. It seemed that a Geth frigate was more than a match for its Turian counterpart. If the Migrant Fleet were to ever engage the Geth, there would be massive casualties. It was depressing to think that she might never see the homeworld again.

As the door finally opened, Tali unfolded her piranha and followed Wrex and Ashley out the airlock. The immediate area seemed secure and a man in civilian clothing ran over to greet them.

"Thank god, you're finally here. We detected the battle in space, but we weren't sure what was happening. Fai Dan will want to talk to-"

Suddenly, a rocket appeared from the hallway ahead them and slammed into the man's back. The explosion blew him into bloody pieces that rained down on the team. The team immediately ran behind cover with Tali reacting the slowest as she ran behind the Normandy's docking tube.

Shepard glanced over her cover and was greeted with a burst of fire from multiple positions ahead of them. The firing immediately forced her back into cover with her barriers drained.

"Garrus! Think you can take them?"

Garrus nodded from behind the shipping crate he had been hiding behind before unfolding his sniper rifle.

"Give me some covering fire!"

"Alright, on three. One\. Two. Three!"

The team immediately popped out of cover and started firing at the Geth positions. The combined barrage forced the machines to duck back into cover. Tali armed her omni-tool and sent a blast of electricity into the hiding machines. The blast forced three of the them to rise up, thrashing about uncontrollably.

Garrus sighted down his scope and pulled the trigger three times in rapidly succession. The high explosive rounds of his sniper rifle made quick work of the exposed machines before the Turian marksman ducked back under cover.

Shepard yelled to be heard above the constant crack of gunfire.

"Tali! How many are left?"

Tali checked her omni-tool as the Geth continued to pour fire into their position. Her scans were being jammed but she quickly activated a series of custom programs she wrote herself and smiled as the interference disappeared.

"There are at least five of them left, Shepard!"

"Alright, you heard her, people! Let's take these damn Geth out."

The team popped out of cover again and returned fire. Tali raised her omni-tool once more and sent another jolt of electrify into the Geth lines, forcing two of they to rise up and become easy targets for Garrus. As more and more of their platforms were destroyed, the return fire from the remaining Geth became uncoordinated and sloppy. Finally, the firing stopped completely as the remaining Geth retreated into a nearby stairway.

"Regroup! Any injuries?"

Tali jogged over to where the team had assembled. She activated her scans and cursed silently at what she saw.

"I'm detecting a group of Geth waiting for us in that stairway. Ambush probably."

Wrex grinned savagely.

"That's not going to be problem. If those stupid robots want to engage us up close, that's fine by me."

Jane nodded.

"A grenade or two will take care of-"

Suddenly, Killian ran over to them from the crate she had been hiding behind. The skull mask she was wearing hid her facial expression but Tali could tell something was wrong. Shepard frowned and turned to face their newest member.

"Killian, are you alright? Is something wrong?"

Killian's voice returned with a creepy metallic tone added in.

"Yes, I am alright Commander, but something is very wrong, and I think we might all be in terrible danger."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN**: Does the Emperor exist? Well, that'll be spoiling now, won't it? Also, Slaanesh will be in this fic. Just assume that the warp is like an ocean and all the different universes are like islands. It's all one ocean but some islands have harsher waves.

* * *

Killian tried to keep her appearance as calm as possible, but inside, she was horrified. How could this be? How could she not have detected this from orbit? This entire planet seemed to be alive. The very air seemed to be filled with an ancient and alien consciousness that chilled her to the bone. The only time she had ever encountered something like was this was when Charno IV had begun its transformation into a daemon-world.

But, it was still….different, somehow. The entire planet was covered by one psychic entity, but it was faint. Unlike a daemon-world, which had nearly driven her into insanity with the amount of rare power leaking through the weakened walls of reality, this planet was nowhere near as powerful in terms of warp anomalies.

"Wait…what do you mean you sense something wrong?"

Shepard gave her a puzzled look as the rest of the team waited for her answer.

Killian silently cursed. Fate was determined to thwart her efforts to remain inconspicuous. She had wanted to hide evidence of her powers but the current situation was far too dangerous to not warn the rest of the team. The psychic emanations were weak, but the Inquisition had not trained her to assume things were benign. If she had her way, they'd leave this world and order an exterminatus immediately, but she doubted Shepard would listen.

In truth, she was curious herself. This Saren had chosen this world to attack and now she had some clue as to why. If he could somehow harness the power of this planet, who knows what he could accomplish in a universe so ignorant of the perils of the Warp?

"In my universe, some people are more attuned to the powers of the Immaterium than others. I am one of them and I can sense the power of the warp all over this planet."

Shepard seemed skeptical but immediately turned to Tali.

"Tali, run that scanning program you wrote. Everyone, make sure your suits are sealed."

Killian shook her head.

"Suits and seals won't matter. If the Ruinous Powers want you, only specialized energy fields and…blessed…wards will protect you."

Shepard raised her eyebrows at that.

"Could you…elaborate?"

Killian sighed. She had been hoping to avoid having to explain the main points of the Imperial Creed for fear of coloring their perception of it. The Ecclessiarchy had agreed to support this expedition with the promise of future missionary missions through the portal. They were not going to be pleased if she messed up and made their faith look bad.

"I'm not qualified to fully explain our faith, so please keep an open mind. Just know that we worship the Emperor of Mankind as our savior and that we only survive the evils of the Warp by His grace and sacrifice. Faith in Him grants protection against the predators lurking in the Immaterium. Special wards and sigils blessed up the most faithful of His servants grant extra protection."

Shepard seemed unconvinced but after a second of hesitant, nodded.

"Do you have any of these…wards?"

Killian smiled and nodded. These people were remarkably open to new ideas. Which was usually a very bad thing, but for once, it would work to her advantage. She had briefly toyed with the idea of not warning the team, but had immediately decided against it. The Ruinous Powers were too dangerous and never to be underestimated. It would be too dangerous to withhold information like this.

"I do. I brought a bag full of them with me when I came though the portal. I could go get them and then perform the necessary rites and prayers to grant at least some protection to you."

Shepard nodded and unfolded her rifle.

"Do it, we'll hold our position here."

* * *

Jane shook her head in disbelief as Killian ran back inside the ship. She turned back to her team. Ashley was the first to voice her opinion.

"Ma'am, did you hear what she said? They worship their emperor like some kind of god." She narrowed her eyes. "I don't think these people are entirely right in the head."

Jane was about to ask for an explanation when Tali ran over to her.

"Shepard! I ran that scan like you told me and she was right! At first it looked clear, but as I narrowed and refined the scan perimeters, I finally found them. The particles are nowhere near as concentrated in the air as it was back on the ship during…that incident."

The team seemed tense as memories of the nightmarish monsters returned. Jane tried to lighten the mood. The worst possible thing to happen to a soldier before battle was to have doubt.

"Hey, if it's this sparse, maybe those prayers and wards will keep us safe. I mean, it must work if they fight these things all the time, right?"

Tali hesitated for a second before glancing around her. After a few seconds, she lowered her voice and turned toward Jane.

"That's not all. When I scanned the area, I had detect an astonishing amount of those particles coming from that woman, Killian. It was so intense it overloaded the sensors. That's why I had to recalibrate it, to filter her out."

Jane's eyes widened.

"How…is she one of those…things?"

Garrus seemed to ponder the situation before replying.

"It's possible. You remember how that thing took on the form of Warrant Officer Briggs? It's entirely possible she's just like it."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Kaiden objected. "If she is one of those things, then what about those people back at the portal?"

The entire squad glanced at Tali, causing the Quarian girl to shrink back and hang her head.

"I…I'm sorry, but I didn't think to scan them after the…incident with the mech."

Jane sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. This whole situation was starting to become a real pain. She did not know anywhere near as much as she would like about this so-called Immaterium. In fact, if she had not seen the portal and what powers lay beyond, she would have dismissed this whole situation as ridiculous.

She was going to have a very long chat with Killian when their mission was complete.

After checking on her armor seals and weapons, she turned to inspect the status of the rest of her team.

"There's nothing we can do about it right now. We don't know enough and she did help us. There's a good chance we would not have detected the particles without her and I'll take any protection I can get against these things. But, just to be safe, keep your eyes open and take everything with a grain of salt."

After another five minutes of waiting, Killian finally emerged from the airlock carrying a handful of strange ribbons and pieces of paper scribbled with a text Jane could not identify. Killian hurried over to the position the team had taken to cover the Geth controlled corridor and began to attach the strange quasi-religious items to the team's armor with wax.

Wrex snorted derisively as Killian attached a ribbon to his chest-plate, but otherwise remained silent. The rest of the team reacted in similar ways. Jane could not blame them. It seemed rather silly that this piece of paper could protect them against something like what they encountered on the ship, but she did not exactly have much of a choice. It was this or nothing.

"I'm not the one who usually does this, so the protection will not be as effective. Please form a circle."

Jane shrugged and glanced at her team as everyone slowly assembled around Killian. The strange woman closed her eyes and began to chant in a language Jane's translator had never encountered before. The language reminded her of Latin but still gave her no clues as to what was being spoken. After a few minutes of chanting, Jane and the rest of the team were starting to grow anxious when Killian finally opened her eyes.

"I've prepared the wards, but you should be aware that it still requires you to steel your minds against the corruption."

Ashley seemed skeptical and poked at the ribbon, much to Killian's chagrin.

"And…how exactly are we supposed to do that?"

Killian kept her face neutral but Jane noted a slight tensing of her body at the insulting tone. Jane sighed inwardly. Ashley was one of the best soldiers she had ever met, but the woman had a rather confrontational and paranoid attitude toward nothing she was not comfortable with. Returning her attention to Killian, Jane listened for any new hints on how to fight their new enemies.

"You must hold true to your values and beliefs. Be suspicious of all seemingly random thoughts that enter your mind. Do not give in to temptations that conflict with your duty. Do not allow doubt cloud your mind from the pursuit of your goal. The Archenemy can exploit all of those in its quest to corrupt you."

Kaiden frowned as he listened to Killian's guidance. When she finished, he finally voiced his concern.

"They can subtly influence a person's mind? That's sounds dangerous. How well do normal people from your universe deal with this?"

Killian gave him a small shake of her head.

"Not well enough, unfortunately." Before Jane could ask her to elaborate, the strange woman drew her sword and a hand gun before mentioning toward the stairway. "I think we should concentrate on the current situation. I promise to answer as many as of your questions as I can after the mission is complete."

Jane forced herself to put on a smile as she nodded. In truth, she would have been much happier if they just left Killian on the ship, but the woman did just possibly save them from a gruesome fate by informing the team of the particle buildup.

"An excellent suggestion," Jane muttered as she traded her rifle for her sub machine gun. "Wrex, take point. Be on the lookout for those mutated creatures."

"About damn time," Wrex grumbled as he checked his weapons before turning toward the only open entrance from the docking bay. "Those machines aren't going to kill themselves."

* * *

Giving purity seals to Xenos was a new experience, one Killian was hoping she would not have to repeat. In truth, she had no idea if the blessed icons of the Emperor would even work for these heathens. Unfortunately, that meant that she was going to have to mentally shield them with her own powers if they came under attack from Warp-based weaponry.

She double checked her own wards and quietly recited the litanies of protection and warding as she carefully expanded her presence to encompass the group. She just prayed that they did not encounter some unholy abomination with an Assignment Rating of Alpha-plus. She had no idea how she was going to handle anything that powerful by herself. The only time she faced a psyker stronger than herself was during the Black Crusade, but back then, she had an Eldar Shadowseer to help her.

_No!_

Doubt was mankind's worst enemy. She must trust in herself and know that the Inquisitor sent her here for a reason. She refused to prove him wrong on the first real hostile encounter of her mission. Killian took a deep breath before cautiously moving up behind the rest of the team.

So far, she was pretty impressed with the skill and technology of these people. The team exhibited remarkable discipline under fire from a foe with superior positioning, numbers and weapons. They were well equipped compared to most Guard units, maybe even Stormtroopers. Of course, from what she had learned, Shepard was supposed to be the best of the best that this universe had to offer, so Killian expected nothing less. They were not Space Marines, but then few could aspire to that well of perfection.

As the team approached the entrance, Killian activated the auspex built into her mask. It seemed the machines were waiting in ambush, just as they predicted. The rest of the team also seemed detect the enemies and Shepard signaled the team to a stop.

"Alright, Tali, I want you to throw a disrupter grenade through the doorway. Wrex and I will charge through as soon as the blast goes off. The rest of you will follow us in with Ashley in the lead. Check your targets and don't try any heroics."

Tali nodded and moved to crouch by the door as Wrex and Shepard began to glow with energy. Killian took cover behind a pillar but kept her attention focused on the two mutants. This so-called biotic power was one of the most interesting things she had encountered in this universe. The powers that it granted people sounded amazing considering the risks compared to psykers and Flavion had already spoken of creating warriors with this ability as soon as they gathered enough Element Zero. This was going to the first time anyone from the Imperium witnessed this amazing talent.

"On the count of three," Shepard whispered into her team-vox. "One…two…three, now!"

Tali immediately tossed two disc-shaped devices through the doorway, and a second later, Killian heard a crack of electricity echo out. Shepard and Wrex immediately turned into two streaks of blue light and flashed through the doorway. The human woman, Ashley, immediately ran through the doorway with her massive gun held at ready.

Killian quickly snapped herself out of her amazement and cautiously followed Ashley with her force sword in hand. The elegant weapon had been a gift from her Master upon her promotion to Interrogator. Focusing her essence into the weapon, the sword became less of a weapon and more of an extension of her mind. The temperature around the blade dropped and frost soon coated the potent weapon.

She could hear the code burst of the machines and the sound of gunfire. She briefly toyed with the idea of taking a few shots from the machines to see the effectiveness of her new shielding but quickly set that plan aside as needlessly reckless. Kaiden moved in front her with his own powers glowing around him like a set of second skin and Killian followed behind him. The two other xenos brought up the rear with the Turian moving with a slight limping motion.

The stairway was littered with the broken shells of the vile machines and slick in that disgusting milky colored fluid they have for blood. The two biotics had already worked their way through most of the enemy ranks, leaving the rest of the team with nothing to do but catch up.

Ashley broke into a jog as they finally came into sight of the Commander. The two vanguards had been forced into cover by one of the ugliest looking ships Killian had ever seen. The insect-looking vessel was pouring fire down on the team through a hole in the roof.

As the rest of the team ran into cover beside the Commander, Shepard smiled and jerked her head upward toward the Geth ship.

"Nice of you guys to join us, because we have a little problem," Shepard turned to Ashley, "time to break out the emergency plan. Think you can hit it?"

Ashley nodded and exchanged her gun for a sleek missile launcher. Shepard turned to Tali.

"Alright Tali, since you're the Geth specialist, any idea where we should hit that ship?"

The Quarian activated her omni-tool and tapped away at the interface for several seconds before returning her attention back to Shepard with a nod.

"Alright, I've scanned the ship and cross-referenced it with everything we know about Geth designs. The Eezo core of the ship should be located in the center, right above those spines. If you damage it, the ship won't be able to maintain its lift."

Shepard nodded and returned her glaze to the rest of the team.

"Alright guys, here's the plan. I'm going to draw their fire away so that Ashley and Wrex can hit it with everything they've got." She then turned to Killian. "Can you hit that ship with that gun of yours?"

Killian shook her head.

"No, the range of the gun is extremely short. The energy will dissipate long before it reaches the ship."

Shepard scowled before glancing over up at the ship pouring torrents of fire into the collapsed pillar the team was using as cover. After a second, Shepard's face split into a mischievous grin and she held out her hand.

"That won't be a problem, because I have a plan. You mind if I borrow that gun for a minute?"

Killian hesitated. She, in fact, did mind. Very much. Every fiber of her being screamed that it was folly to hand over the mastercrafted weapon. She had already committed so many acts that would give a priest a heart attack but most of them had merely been ideological compromises. However, to hand over her weapon, especially while on a hostile world with no way off…

Groaning inwardly, she quickly realized that she did not have much choice if she wanted to stay in this universe's good graces. She gingerly pulled her precious inferno pistol out of her thigh holster and delicately handed it over to Shepard.

"You only have one shot with that before you have to change the fuel canister. I only have two spares with me so you better make them count."

* * *

Garrus peeked out of cover to get a good view of the Geth dropship but was immediately forced back under cover as the fury of the Geth ship immediately drained his barriers to only a quarter of its normal power. Muttering a short curse, he began to slide along the fallen pillar to where the rest of the team had taken cover behind an intact wall.

The Protheans really knew to build sturdy structures, he marveled. The heavy cannon fire from the ship was barely scratching the eons old rubble.

As he finally crawled behind the cover of the wall, he slowly pushed himself to his feet with a hand from Kaiden. The pain in his hip was no longer crippling, but he was not going to be able to move very fast. With a sigh of resignation, he realized that Shepard was probably right in ordering him to remain behind and guard the colony.

Glancing around at the team, Garrus noted that Ashley and Wrex were moving to the edge of the wall while Shepard was studying the strange heavy pistol Killian carried.

"Shepard, you have a plan, I take it?"

The Commander glanced with a smile and nodded.

"You bet. I came here to save a colony and I don't plan on letting one little Geth ship stopped me."

Garrus nodded.

"I got your back, Shepard. What do I have to do?"

Shepard's confident smile seemed to grow.

"Stay in cover for now. When I'm about the hit the ship, I want you to unload everything you have on the middle of the ship." Before Garrus could ask her to elaborate, the Commander had already walked past him to stand behind Wrex. "You'll know what you have to do."

Garrus' mandible twitched in confusion but he made no other comments as Shepard nodded at Wrex. The woman had an easy confidence that seemed to spread to the team. He trusted the Commander to get them through things. So far, she had not failed him.

"Alright Wrex, show time."

The Krogan nodded before an intense field of biotic energy surrounded him. The Battlemaster flexed his limbs one last time and unfolded his Striker. Then, with surprising agility, the massive Krogan ran out of cover into the corridor. His rapid-fire rocket launcher roared with increasing volume as it spat high explosive rounds at the Geth ship.

As small explosions peppered the hull of the Geth ship, the guns that had been forcing the team into cover turned to track the Krogan. A torrent of fire soon chased after Wrex and his barriers rapidly drained.

"Now!" Shepard yelled as she surrounded herself in biotic energy. "Hit it with everything you have!"

Garrus immediately leaned out of cover and opened fire with his sniper rifle. The high-explosive rounds slammed into the Geth ship but failed to penetrate the powerful kinetic barriers. Garrus scowled when he realized that Wrex's fire had alsp done no conceivable damage to the Geth ship. The rest of the team had also opened fire. Ashley was firing her Cobra missile launcher as fast as the potent weapon could cycle its firing chamber.

The heavy missiles proved effective as its phasic shielding allowed it to bypass the shields of the dropship. The high-explosive warheads slammed into the hull of the Geth ship but only managed to blow small fist-sized holes into the armor.

Kaiden flared with biotic power as he thrust his hand toward the ship. A bolt of blue energy detached from his body and flow toward the damaged section of the Geth ship. The warp field immediately began to corrode the hull as the holes began to slowly expand.

As the team's initial volley died down, Shepard engulfed herself in biotic power and disappeared with a flash of dark energy. An instant later, Garrus noted the Commander's distinct black light armor clinging onto one of the sensor spines underneath the Geth ship.

Fear seized Garrus as he waited for the Geth guns to turn on Shepard. However, after a nerve wrecking minute of the heavy caliber guns continuing to fire on their position, Garrus sighed in relief. It seemed that the Geth either did not detect Shepard or chose to ignore her.

A costly mistake.

* * *

Jane swore loudly as she fought to maintain her grip on the metallic plating of the leg-like protrusion under the Geth ship. It was a miracle the guns had not turned to target her. This was definitely not one of her better plans.

_Oh well, no sense complaining about it now_, she told herself as she finally managed to get a proper grip.

After spending a second to decide how best to proceed, Jane began to swing herself back and forth. Her legs reached higher and higher, until with a grunt of effort, she managed to swing herself onto the top of the protrusion. She immediately magnetically clamped herself to the ship.

Finally gaining a moment's rest, Jane glanced up at the middle of the ship. She could see the weakened section of the hull in front of her. Kaiden's warp field was still slowly ripping the armor apart. Given enough time, the armor might weaken to the point where the ground team might get a lucky shot in.

Unfortunately, time was not on their side. If they did not reinforce the colony soon, the Geth might finally break through the funnel of the bridge and swarm over the colonists.

Unclamping the exotic gun from her hip, Jane aimed it steadily at weakened section of armor and pulled the trigger lightly. Just as before, a loud whining noise emitted from the potent weapon and the barrel began to glow. After a second of power buildup, the weapon finally unleashed its destructive power.

The section of the hull hit by the invisible beam of energy immediately melted into liquid. The air surrounding the weapon ignited into flames and Jane was forced to avert her eyes as the blinding light of the discharge slowly faded.

As she blinked away the stars in her vision, she looked back at the devastation caused by the hand-held anti-armor weapon. A large circular hole had been punched straight through the hull of the Geth ship and the edges of the hole stilled glowed a bright shade of orange.

Suddenly, a jerking motion by the ship almost caused Jane to lose her footing and fall. Snapped out of her amazement, she noted with a curse that the Geth ship was starting to ascend. The engines of the ship seemed to have been damaged because its movements were sluggish and uncontrolled.

Looking down, Jane's eye widened as she saw that ground was starting to rapidly fall away.

Not good.

Quickly focusing her biotic powers, Jane reached behind her and grabbed a high-explosive charge before tossing the bomb through the hole into the inside of the ship. Then, with a grimace, she deactivated the magnetic clamp on her boots and jumped off the rapidly accelerating ship.

As she plummeted through the air, a loud explosion blossomed above her as the Geth ship's Mass Effect core exploded and the ship quickly fell below the clouds. Unfortunately, the shockwave of dark energy washed over her an instant later and blew her around like a ragdoll. A moment of intense vertigo seized her and her fall descended into a wild, uncontrolled tumble. Forcing herself to remain calm and remember her training, Jane slowly forced herself into alignment with the ground through clever usage of her biotics. Sighting the hole in the roof of the Prothean spire where her team had taken cover, Jane inhaled deeply before focusing her powers.

With a flash of energy, she appeared an instant later right above the hole. Her happiness was short lived however, as she rapidly plunged toward ground. Quickly summoning all her remaining strength, Jane managed to surround herself in a cocoon of biotic energy before she slammed into the ground at near terminal velocity.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Better late than never right?

Jane groaned as Kaiden scanned her with his omni-tool. Her entire body hurt and the fall had not been kind to her recently broken ribs. She had only survived the fall mostly intact because of the timely save from Kaiden and Wrex. The two biotics had surrounded her in a mass effect field which had slowed her descent enough for her barriers to take most of the force from the impact.

Unfortunately, while nothing was broken, she still felt like she had been in a wrestling match with an entire clan of Krogans.

"I'm fine," Jane insisted as she pushed Kaiden's arm away from her face and slowly pushed herself to her feet. "I've had bigger falls during training."

"Uh huh," Kaiden mumbled as he helped her to her feet, "good news, no broken bones."

Jane dusted herself off before glancing at Kaiden.

"And the bad news?"

Kaiden pointed to something on the floor and when Jane saw what it was, she cursed loudly.

"Dammit, my blade broke!" Scowling in annoyance, Jane reached behind her and withdrew one of her spares. The close combat weapons were deceptively potent but the forging process involving folding and honing through mass effect fields left the blades brittle and prone to snapping when used incorrectly. The good thing, weapons also have a frightening ability to separate limbs with ease. Unlocking the casing holding the dangerous weapon, Jane sighed as she slipped the blade into her thigh sheath. "Those things aren't cheap, you know…"

Kaiden glanced at her with a funny look on his face as he deactivated his omni-tool. Jane rolled her eyes as she moved to check the rest of her equipment.

"What?"

Kaiden pointed to her blade with a faint smile.

"How many of those things do you carry with you?"

"Six," Jane deadpanned. "Why?"

* * *

Killian glanced around her at the ancient hive ruins this colony was constructed in. It was certainly impress considering how long these structures had survived. Equally impress was how long these colonists had been able to hold off the machines. Compared to Shepard's team, these colonists made PDFs look like Stormtroopers. Most of them had no armor or kinetic barriers and half of them were armed with only low caliber stub pistols.

Shepard was conversing with the colony administrator while the rest of the team was either helping to hold the barricades or aiding the colonists in getting their town fixed. Apparently, the Geth had infiltrated behind the defenses of the colonists and taken over the underhive. Now the colonists were cut off from the teams guarding the bridge.

Everything would be normal, if not for the strange Warp presence. She would have simply attributed it to a simple local phenomenon if not for the presence probing at the walls of her mental fortress. It was not the malevolent evil of a daemon or the cunning schemes of a psyker. It was faint and animalistic and Killian had no idea what it was.

Was it Tyranids?

That was a frightening thought, but she was still unsure. She had never encountered the vile extra-galactic xenos and the few reports given by psykers had been inconclusive to say the least.

Sighing in resignation, Killian pulled her rebreather mask off and smiled as a cooling breeze washed over her face. It felt so good to be on a habitable world again. The last time she recalled breathing clean air and feeling the touch of the wind on her skin had been the idyllic garden-world of Reth right before her Master had been summoned to reinforce the Cadian Gate.

Sure, this desolate planet was covered in dusty ruins but compared to the last two planets, Feros seemed like a paradise. Pulling down her hood, Killian unsealed her bodyglove and ruffled her snowy colored hair to get it into a more presentable state. She wanted to find a nice place and meditate for several hours but fate had other ideas. The constant strain of maintaining her psychic barriers for so long was starting to wear her down. Her instructors said the only true pleasure a psyker will ever experience is the brief moment when she could lower all her mental barriers within a blessed sanctuary for one instant of pure bliss that made all the hardships worth it. Unfortunately, whether or not Killian thought it was worth the misery depended on how often she could experience it, and she had not experienced it anymore near enough for the past five or so years.

Glancing at Shepard, Killian noted that the Commander was done conversing with the colonial leaders and was heading toward the barricade with Williams and Wrex. Curious, Killian wondered over to the Commander's side with a polite cough to announce her presence. Shepard acknowledged her with a nod before activating her omni-tool.

"Ground team, assemble at the main barricade."

After sending the message, Shepard turned back toward Killian.

"Lieutenant, I was just about to contact you. Can you think of any reason why Saren might target this world?"

Killian pondered the situation. She had not yet told them she sensed a presence and she had no real idea who this Saren was or what he wanted. From what she could gather, he was some kind of traitor to their interspecies alliance and he hated humanity. It was possible he came here to seek out an ally. She could try to trace the webs of fate to find him but that required preparation which they did not have time for.

So, she just settled for telling another half-truth.

"I am sorry Commander, but I do not know enough about this universe to say anything with certainty. There could be many reasons why the walls of the universe are weaker on this planet."

Shepard sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Give me the best and worst case scenario."

She briefly mused over rather or not to tell Shepard, but quickly pushed the thought aside. She had already told the Commander more than enough for most command-level Imperial officers to be executed, but these were exceptional circumstances. It would do no good to trick these people into underestimating the Ruinous Powers.

"Best case, nothing happens. People might experience odd things like the feeling of being watched, occasionally hearing whispers or seeing strange apparitions. Worst case, the entire planet will soon be devoured by the Immaterium. The walls separating the two realms will break down and everyone left on this world will suffer a fate worse than death."

Shepard sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"And which scenario do you think will most likely occur here?"

"Impossible to say, the Warp is inherently unpredictable."

Shepard forced a weak smile as she shook her head sadly.

"Of course, otherwise, it would be too easy," she muttered sarcastically, "I guess we'll just have to do this the hard way."

"You have a plan, Commander?"

"Yes," Shepard nodded as the rest of the team began to assemble, "we're going to smash through the Geth lines and attack their command center at the ExoGeni headquarters."

* * *

What an awful mess, Tali mused as she pared open the panel with a grunt of effort. The colony infrastructure was an absolute wreck, probably even before the Geth attacked. Most of the buildings were prefabricated shacks and what looked like an old passenger ship. The colony got its power from a combination of solar panels and industrial power packs that were now in short supply.

It was a sobering demonstration of the power of the Geth. The battle in orbit had been depressingly brutal, even with the might of the Turian navy and the most advanced warship in the galaxy. The Quarian Heavy Fleet was comprised of warships dating as back as far as the exodus from the Rannoch and other obsolete warships either bought or salvaged from the other races in the galaxy. Tali shuddered as she briefly imagined the casualties the Migrant Fleet was likely to suffer if they launched an attack on the Geth.

The only real hope she had now was maybe the Council would finally unite and fight the Geth. The Quarians needed an edge because right now, the Geth seemed invincible.

Sighing in sadness as her thoughts and imagination drifted once more to the homeworld she had seen in pictures, Tali activated her omni-tool and begun to run a bypass from the overloaded circuitry in the secondary solar panels. The Geth plasma based weapons seemed to possess the ability to overload electrical systems in their target. Kinetic barriers, vehicles and even buildings were no match for the powerful energy surges generated by the potent weapons.

What would happen if the Migrant Marines went up against Geth infantry?

Quarians relied on their advanced kinetic barriers, but it seems like the Geth weaponry had been specifically designed to nullify their creator's biggest advantage. It was a terrifying thought and Tali did not want to think what kind of havoc the plasma rounds would have on the delicate environment suits worn by her people. Medical supplies were always short in the Flotilla, who knows how long the Fleet could fight an extended ground campaign before sickness crippled their war effort.

"Hey, you're pretty handy with machines," a voice stated from behind her, causing Tali to nearly jump in surprise. The colonists had a creepy tendency to sneak up on her whenever she was engrossed in work. It was nothing really special to her people, since Quarians were rarely trusted enough to be left unattended next to valuable electronics, but she doubted she would ever get used to it. Fortunately, the colonists seemed genuinely friendly to her, as the woman in charge of colonial maintenance kneeled down beside her with an exhausted smile. "These repairs would have taken me all day if you weren't here."

"Thanks," Tali replied proudly as she performed the final tests to make sure everything was up and running smoothly. "Quarians are all pretty good with machines."

"We could use you in the colony, you know," the woman stated as she started up the diagnostics program with her omni-tool. Waving her hand to indict the surrounding room, she continued. "There's no shortage of problems in this place. Have you ever thought about settling down here along with the rest of your people?"

For a second, Tali was stunned into silence. Settle down on a colony? It was…tempting, now that she had experienced life outside the Fleet. Maybe what her people needed to do was to rebuild their population and infrastructure before trying to retake the Homeworld. Unfortunately, the issue was the most hotly debated decision on among the Conclave and her father was adamant in focusing all resources on retaking Rannoch instead of resettling.

"Umm…thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it," Tali muttered awkwardly as she reflexively rubbed the edge of her mask. While she wanted a world to be able to call home, Feros was about one of the only places in the galaxy that she did not want to settle down on. The dusty ruins and dead eco-system meant the world was completely relayant on off-world imports to sustain a population. "Unfortunately, it's not really my decision to make."

The woman gave her an understanding but weary smile.

"I know the planet doesn't look like much," she admitted sadly as the two women walked out of the cramped electric room of the pre-fabricated shelter into the dusty 'surface' of Feros. The change from the dim lighting of the shelter to the blinding light of the sun nearly blinded Tali before her mask automatically adjusted its display. "In fact, when I was first posted to this world by ExoGeni, I hated every second of it."

"Then why did you stay?" Tali asked, confused, as they walked toward another colonist with her omni-tool out in front of what looked like a system of pipes. Despite the Geth attacks, the colonists remained surprisingly determined and coordinated in their efforts to keep the small settlement running. "Don't you have family or something?"

"To be honest, I don't really know why I stayed myself," the woman replied with a shrug. "I guess the place just grew on me. I don't really have any other family, and, eventually, I guess I just started to see the other colonists as my family instead."

"It must be hard, having something you care so much about taken from you by the Geth," Tali whispered apologetically. It was heart wrenching to know that her ancestors' mistake had not condemned her people to centuries of exile, but to know that it now threatened the entire galaxy put it into a new perspective. On one hand, she was slightly satisfied that the Council would pay for ignoring the Geth threat, but she could not bear to think of other people losing their home because of the Geth.

"Don't count us out yet," the woman stated cheerfully as she greeted the other technician. "We all worked hard to make this place work, and we're not going to let those walking flashlights ruin everything."

Tali remained silent as the two colonists began to exchange notes on the condition of the colony. She was conflicted. On one hand, it was good to see that people could resist and beat back the Geth when properly motived, but she also fought to not get too excited. It was one thing to fight a small Geth warband, but to confront them all at the seat of their power was another matter entirely. Would the Quarians have the strength to retake their homeworld or would they be doomed to live aboard starships for the rest of their lives.

Was it really worth spending so many lives to reclaim a simple planet that may not even be habitable anymore? Was the planet more important than the lives of its children? These could be considered treasonous sentiments back on the Flotilla, but Tali began to secretly wonder just how many other Quarians wondered the same thing.

* * *

"Alright, these are all the reports I was able to gather from my people," Fai Dan stated as he handed a worn data-pad to Kaiden before turning to Karin. "I want to thank you, Doctor, for helping my people."

"Think nothing of it," Karin replied automatically as she directed a group of colonists in bringing out spare medical supplies from the damaged Normandy. The condition of the colony site was abysmal, medically speaking. The unrelenting sun scorched the exposed sections of the camp and would cause skin damage with prolonged exposure. On the other hand, temperatures plummeted in the sealed sections of ruins and millennia of dust coated everything.

Why anyone would fund a permanent settlement on this world, especially at this attitude, was beyond her. The planet would never support a large population without intense terra-forming and massive urban revitalization. The cost of getting a self-sustaining colony up and running funded solely on the hopes of Prothean artifacts was foolish.

"Alright," Kaiden murmured as he scrutinized the reports from the various colonists. "It looks like I'll have to organize a sweep of the underground tunnels. How many Geth did you say there are?"

"At least a few dozen," the ExoGeni security chief stated as she pulled up a map of the ancient tunnel network under their feet. "We think they arrived via dropship in the main towers and proceeded to occupy these tunnels." The woman highlighted a narrow section of the map and indicted a chamber at the far end of the tunnel. "I think they patched into the colony power-grid there and set up some kind of high-powered transmitter."

"That makes sense," Tali stated confidently as she crossed her arms over her chest. The girl seemed much more comfortable on matters concerning the Geth or technology than anything else. "The Geth would need a powerful local transmitter to connect with the rest of the Network, especially in the tunnels."

"So, if we were to shut that transmitter down," Garrus replied as he eyed the maps intently, "the Geth would lose their connection to their collective processing power."

"Even better," Tali corrected with a hint of pride and amusement in her voice, "if the transmitter goes down, most of the Geth programs will panic and transfer themselves off their platforms, err…, bodies before the transmitter shuts down."

"Alright then," Kaiden declared to the rest of the ground team as he deactivated his omni-tool. "Let's make a sweep of the tunnels and knock out that transmitter."

"I'll stay behind with the marines and do what I can for the injured," Karin replied as she gazed out toward the shelter where a dozen critically injured colonists were resting. "I need the colony's water supply back or half these people will die by nightfall."

"The water valves are located along the route I showed you," Fai Dan winced slightly as a flash of pain crossed his face before disappearing. "We need them turned back on as soon as possible. Some of the men have already gone for days without any water."

"Are you alright?" Karin asked with a look of concern in her eyes as she activated her omni-tool. She had not had time to assess the colonists still walking around due to all the critically injured ones requiring her attention.

"It's nothing Doctor," Fai Dan insisted as he grabbed Karin's arm suddenly and gently pushed it back down. "You're time is better spent attending to my people."

"If there's nothing else we need to know," Kaiden replied awkwardly in an attempt to steer the conversation back to the mission. "I'll take the rest of the team out now."

"There's one thing that you should know," the security chief replied. "We saw Krogan soldiers fighting alongside the Geth earlier. If they're down in the tunnels, you might have a tough fight ahead of you."

"Krogan?" Garrus nearly spat in anger. "Those people will do anything for credits, even help genocidal robots destroy the galaxy."

"What about Wrex?" Kaiden asked. "He seems pretty honorable."

"That's debatable and you can't judge an entire species by the actions of one person." Garrus replied calmly. "Just look at me, I'm about as different from stereotypical Turians as you can get."

Kaiden sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Look, we're getting sidetracked," the marine lieutenant declared, ending the conversion. "Let's gear up and move out."

* * *

Killian was not pleased at this newest development.

The robot 'corpse' she had propped up against the wall of the ruins was particularly resilient to the slugs of her autopistol. Most of her small-caliber rounds seem to merely bounce off the silver-colored metal alloy that the machines used to cover up its innards. Her bullets could penetrate the soft artificial 'muscle' fibers of the machines well enough but it was unwise to assume the machine's shield would not provide any protection. If anything, the shields seem to offer more protection than the armor itself.

The Interrogator silently reprimanded herself for not bringing a las-pistol with her indeed when she knew the inhabitants of this universe employed kinetic barriers. It was another mistake she should never have made. She hoped it was just residue disorientation from her journey and not permanent. The Inquisition does not take kindly to acolytes that fall short of expectation.

Scowling in mixture of anger and disappoint in herself, Killian shoved her force-sword through the chest-plate of the machine and smiled bitterly at the result. It was comforting to know her favored weapon would not fail her at least. Her inferno pistol only carried another two shots before she had to restock from Flavion. It was better to save it for something the others would not be able to handle on their own.

Sighing in exhaustion, Killian pulled her sword from what was left of the Geth and moved to find a new target. Reaching the site of their engagement with the Geth outside the colony entrance, she began to pace across the site, looking for anything remotely intact. After a minute of searching, she had managed to salvage a Geth corpse with one of its legs blown off and one of their strange looking weapons.

Suddenly, a flashing orb of orange appeared above her left arm and began to emit an irritating buzz. It took her a second to realize that someone was trying to contact her using her omni-tool. After staring at the interface for a minute trying to figure out to how to answer, she finally settled for waving her hand through the orb and was rewarded with a grainy image of Lieutenant Alenko appearing over her wrist.

"Lieutenant Ibrena," the man greeted with a nod which Killian returned politely. "We're getting ready to make a swipe of the lower levels. Do you want to come with us?"

"Of course," Killian replied with feigned interest. To be honest, she could not care less about this pathetic backwater if not for the mysterious psychic presence she could barely sense. In fact, whenever she actively tried to find it, the presence seemed to withdraw until she was no longer sure she ever sensed anything. Was it just her finely honed sense of caution playing tricks on her? Maybe, but the Servants of the Emperor must be constantly vigilant against whatever threats that may threaten Mankind.

So, for now, she would just play the good little diplomat and pretend nothing was wrong. But her mental barriers were not coming down while they were on this world, no matter how exhausted she became.

* * *

"Ah, the good old Grizzly," Jane smiled as she surveyed the vehicle parked in front of the colony garage gate. The wreckage of several other vehicles uttered the massive room, no doubt the result of the constant Geth attacks. The machines' assault seemed to have been alleviated by the loss of their fleet in orbit and the colonists had managed to seal the enormous steel gate separating the tower from the skyway. "The so-called Bunker on Wheels of the Alliance military. I forgot how badly designed they were."

"The 212 had a couple of old Grizzlies back on…," Ashley trailed off before she could bring up memories of her old unit. Jane sighed and nodded at the woman in understanding and sympathy. It was never easy to lose comrades in battle, but to see your entire unit wiped out, man and woman you had lived with for years was something that was bound to leave emotional scars.

"Ash," Jane called out to the woman gently. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know that ma'am," the Gunnery Chief replied defensively. "I blame the Geth for it and we're going to make those metal bastards pay for every human they murdered."

"Ash," Jane whispered sternly, all the usual mirth gone from her tone. "I know you want revenge, but don't let your personal feelings cloud your judgment. I can't have you compromising the mission. Understood?"

Ashley stared at the Commander in shock, her mouth slightly agape before she snapped herself back to her senses a second later. She snapped a crisp salute and the raw anger that plagued her face moments ago was immediately replaced by calm professionalism. "Yes Ma'am, I understand perfectly."

"Good" Jane replied cheerfully as she returned her attention back to inspecting their vehicle. "Now that's out of the way, please do an inspection of the main gun."

"Hope this thing has better armor than the old one," Wrex grunted as he casually kicked the one of the Grizzly's tires dubiously. "The thing couldn't a Krogan musket."

"Well, if I have to say something nice about the Grizzly," Jane replied with a smile as she circled the vehicle, checking for any obvious problems. Despite how run-down the colony seemed, they were issued some pretty decent equipment and whoever maintained this garage knew what they were doing. "It's got more armor than passenger space. This thing was made before the First Contact War, back when we didn't rely as heavily on kinetic barriers."

"Is it too much to ask for both?" Wrex scoffed derisively as he casually punched the hull of the AFV, leaving a fist-shaped dent in the armor plating.

"Wrex…," Jane pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation but made no further reply. "Just get in so we can move out."

"I don't know, Shepard," Wrex replied with an innocent smile. "That thing doesn't look like it can hold me."

"Wrex," Jane sighed as she popped open the driver's compartment hatch and climbed into the cramp room. "The back will hold six soldiers with equipment, I'm sure you'll fit."

"I don't know, Shepard," Wrex repeated. "If you Humans are anything like Asari, you can bend your bodies in all sorts of interesting ways."

* * *

"What an Emperor forsaken place, this is," Private Gerald stated as he took another mouthful of warm water from his canteen. The uncompromising sun scorched the land around them and made the Inquisitorial Stormtrooper sweat enough to fill buckets. The red dust got into everything and the cloud generated by their Salamander was enough to cake Gerald and his partner in a thick layer of the stuff. "What did I do to deserve this assignment?"

"Stow it, Gerald," Corporal Lan retorted as he held onto the pinnacle-mounted heavy stubber. "Captain wants us to scout this sector and that's what we're going to do."

"Can't they get a plane to do this instead?" Gerald complained as he gunned the throttle of the scout vehicle, sending the two soldiers flying over a nearby sand-dune.

"Yeah and who's going to unclog its engines and find more fuel afterwards?" Lan retorted casually with a smile. "You volunteering?"

"Feth no, sir!"Gerald laughed as he steered the Salamander over another small ridge and brought the vehicle to a jerking halt, eliciting a string of curses from Lan that would make a hive ganger blush. "Well, these are the coordinates."

Lan grunted angrily as he pushed himself back to his seat and activated the powerful vox-caster built into the Salamander. "Captain, we're in visual range of the sensor blackout."

"Roger," the gruff voice of Captain Varnias replied a minute later. "What do you see?"

Spitting out the dust that had enter his mouth, Lan took a swag of water to rinse out his mouth before lifting the auspex scanner to his eyes. Far off in the distance, the scanner brought back the image of a massive dust storm blocking off orbital view of a enormous valley. Lan sighed in annoyance as he lowered the scanner.

"False alarm, sir," Lan reported bitterly. They had made this entire ten hour drive in the miserable Salamander on this worthless world just to confirm a dust storm. "It's just a massive cloud of dust."

"You sure?" Varnias replied. "Scans show massive heat signatures in that vicinity. I need you to confirm what's inside."

"What?!" Gerald exclaimed as he spun around in anger. "Is he crazy? A storm that size? We'll be lucky if it doesn't rip the flesh from our bones!"

"Shut your damn mouth, Private!" Lan snared and silently prayed that Varnias did not hear the insubordinate trooper's objections. "Roger sir, we'll make a final sweep of the perimeter before-"

"For the Dark Gods!"

Lan barely had time to turn toward the thundering war cry before the crude metal axe cleaved his skull in half.

"Emperor's Blood!" Gerald exclaimed in shock as he fumbled for his hotshot las-gun. Somehow, a small group of savage tribesmen covered in heretical tattoos had managed to sneak up on the scout vehicle without them noticing. The savages were covered in layers of hide armor and thick cord-like muscles that would have made a Catachan envious.

The first berserker wielding a wicked two handed battle-axe charged him with an ear-piercing war-cry and Gerald barely had time to bring his weapon up before the heretic reached spitting distance. His decade of training took over and he sent two high-powered beams of light into the chest of the charging savage. Incredibly, the man merely grunted in rage and stumbled for a second before resuming his charge.

Fortunately, for all his complaints and bad attitude, Gerald was still an Inquisitorial Stormtrooper, the best of the best. Remaining calm, he shifted his aim and put another las-bolt straight through the heretic's left eye. The warrior continued to charge for another five steps before his body registered the fact that it was dead and tumbled over.

However, there were still another four of the savages as far as Gerald could see, including the one that killed Lan, now perched over the driver's open cabin with a feral smile on his lips. He raised his spear to skewer Gerald but the stormtrooper managed to turn his weapon about and drilled the man right between the eyes.

The massive man collapsed into Gerald's lap and the overwhelming stench of the savage made the Stormtrooper gag. Summoning all his remaining strength, Gerald managed to shove the heavy body out of the vehicle before unbuckling himself. Dropping out of the Salamander, he immediately fell into a crouch with his weapon at the ready.

However, in that instant, the dust-storm cleared and Gerald's jaw dropped at what he saw. A massive city constructed of crude stone and metal, stuck out of the barren earth like jagged pieces of wreckage as far as the eye can see. Millions of tiny dots moved through the city like ants and millions more massed in the plains surrounding it. Massive furnaces belched smoke and flames into the atmosphere. The dust-storm had been generated by a combination of hive activity and the unnatural flames of its furnaces.

This world was not uninhabited. It was home to millions in this one city alone. And they were going to war.

"Captain!" Gerald screamed into his vox as over a hundred tribesmen emerged over the dunes and charged his position. "There's an entire city of Chaos worsh-"

The last thing Private Jonathan Gerald saw was a barbed arrow flying straight through his carapace armor like it was made of wet parchment and impale his heart.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN**: _Radical members of the Inquisition really are quite morally bankrupt, aren't they? Kinda expected considering they already turned their backs on some of the most important moral beliefs held by their society. Some of their beliefs might make more sense to us over the normal Imperial Creed, but these people are really rather amoral in what they are willing to do. And yes, Killian is very hypocritical._

_Arrows are warp-tained. Not quite daemon weapon level, but pretty effective nevertheless._

* * *

_Will try to get more frequent updates out now that I have spare time._

"Shepard! I thought you knew how to drive this thing!"

"Does this thing look maneuverable to you, Wrex?" Jane yelled behind her into the cramped passenger compartment as she floored the acceleration pedal of the Grizzly and willed the bulky vehicle to move faster and hold together. Another explosion rocked the sturdy vehicle as far too many Geth rocket troopers popped out of cover and rained high-explosive death down at them from the sides of the skyway. "Ashley! Targets at ten and eight o'clock!"

"Copy that Ma'am!" Ashley's voice buzzed back from the sealed turret section of the vehicle. A second later, a mighty boom and a near blinding flare of light signaled the firing of the heavy caliber cannon mounted on top of their tank. The Grizzly was a design carried over from Earth's interstate wars. A time when ground warfare was dominated by the overwhelming power of the newly discovered mass accelerator weapons. Heavy armor, powerful kinetic barriers and the biggest gun the designer could stick onto even a half stable platform ruled the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the First Contact War put the final nail in the coffin for this design philosophy. No matter how tough the armor and strong the kinetic barrier, heavy tank-like vehicles proved no match for orbital bombardment. Its replacement, the Mako, was designed to provide infantry with heavy fire support without forcing ships to expand more power to transporting heavy vehicles. Naval power dominated warfare and soon ground combat was a thing of the past.

Unfortunately, the Council and Geth forces on Feros were stuck in something of a stalemate. Neither faction had orbital control, with the Zira barely holding together in orbit and all her guns off-line. The Geth transport clinging to the side of the ExoGeni headquarters like an insect could probably destroy the Turian frigate, but Tali had assured them the Geth would never risk their last link with the rest of the Consensus.

"This place is a damn deathtrap," Jane muttered to no one in particular as yet more Geth troopers peeked out of the bunkers built into the sides of bridge and poured more rockets down onto the sturdy tank. If Jane was thankful for one thing, it was the fact that they did not choose to make this journey in the Mako. The lighter vehicle would have been turned to scrap metal ages ago by all the anti-armor ordnance the Geth were throwing at them. This supposedly civilian model of the Grizzly seemed absurdly durable and well-armed for a bunch of frontier colonists.

"Damn Shepard," Wrex grunted as he fired his Striker out from the passenger hold. An unfortunate Geth Destroyer took the full force of the mini-rockets and exploded into a shower of shrapnel, destroying two Geth rocket troopers relying on the larger machine for cover. "There's a bunker built into every inch of this bridge, all facing the colony."

"Well, I guess ExoGeni took their headquarters' safety much more seriously than that of its colonists." Jane scowled as another rocket slammed into the hardened kinetic barrier protecting the driver's compartment. "I guess if a pirate armada invaded the colony, the executives would be safe behind more fortifications than the Krogan DMZ."

"This is nothing," Wrex argued indignantly as he dropped another cluster of Geth troopers hiding into an armored alcove built into the side of the bridge. "Krogans don't hide behind bunkers waiting to be blasted like vermin."

"Heavy Geth walker directly ahead!" Ashley reported as she swung the turret around and loaded a heavy armor piercing round and sent it straight down the bridge toward the Geth Colossus. At the same instant, the massive walker sighted the squat Grizzly tank racing down the skyway toward it and released a crackling sphere of energy. The two projectiles passed each other and raced toward their intended targets.

The high velocity tungsten sabot round reached its target first. The mighty Geth walker had no hope of dodging the accurate marksmanship of Ashley and took the full force of the powerful anti-vehicle round. The nose of the round slammed into the powerful kinetic barriers of the Colossus and released a burst of energy, immediately overloading the generators. A instant after the barriers dropped, the kinetic penetrator nested in the center of the powerful warhead erupted from its housing and drilled through the body of the Colossus.

The massive machine emitted an electronic buzz of pain as the milky white fluid spewed out of its neck like a mortally wounded animal. The secondary explosions from the penetrator rocked the innards of the walker and it seemed to convulse for a second before its legs lost power and it crashed to the ground with a groan of tortured metal.

Unfortunately, the team did not have team to celebrate their victory as the radiant ball of energy sped toward them, the Colossus determined, even in death, to destroy its enemy. The noise of the strange weapon made Jane's teeth vibrate and she could feel static build up as the distance between the sphere and the Grizzly rapidly reduced.

"Shit, hang on!" Jane screamed as she slammed on the brakes and jerked the control yoke to the left. The cumbersome Grizzly jerked into a semi-controlled slide as Jane fought to keep the vehicle from tumbling end over end. The energy blast from the Geth colossus flashed past the tank and slammed into the ground with an explosive discharge of energy. The EMP generated by the potent walker immediately overloaded the Grizzly's kinetic barriers and half-melted the tank's rear armor.

"Wrex," Jane shouted back into the passenger hold as flashing warning lights illuminated the now darkened driver's compartment. "Wrex! You alright back there?"

"It'll take more than your bad driving to kill me," the Krogan grumbled as he shoved a piece of hull reinforcement off himself and slowly climbed back onto his feet. His massive body had snapped the safety restraints on his seat and his armor had crushed another seat as he bounced around in the madness of the vehicle's tumble.

Jane smiled despite how bad of a situation they were in before activating the Grizzly's systems diagnostics tool. After a tense minute of the team sitting in a rather large and unshielded target, the program finally spat out its findings. Jane groaned in annoyance as more bad news pilled until the team's already dire circumstances.

"Ash, I need a status report on the main gun," Jane called into her suit's communicator as the hardline between her compartment and the turret had been fussed by the power of the Geth energy weapon. "The shields are toast and the rear axial got fussed to the drive shaft. I could use some good news right now."

"Afraid I just have more bad news, Ma'am," Ashley reported and Jane could not help but smile bitterly at the situation. It seems the universe was determined to make this mission go as badly as possible. They had not even gotten into the Geth command center but already lost their heavy armor support. "The main gun's barrel is completely melted and the co-axial machine gun's heatsink is fried."

"Our day just keeps getting better and better," Jane replied sarcastically as she unbuckled herself from the officially completely dead vehicle and popped open the hatch to the outside. The unfiltered brilliance of the sun nearly blinded Jane for a second before she blinked away the swashes of white in her vision. "Dismount, we'll have to proceed on foot then."

"Commander, I'm picking up a com signal," Ashley suddenly called out from the top of the turret. Jane frowned as she glanced at her omni-tool's display. Sure enough, a faint signal being broadcasted with a high level encryption on a surprisingly high level frequency. "It's not Geth and it's coming from directly ahead."

"Survivors from the ExoGeni headquarters, maybe," Jane murmured as she cross referenced the source the signal with her orbital scans of the planet. The signal appeared to originate from a hardened bunker built under the ruins of the Prothean spire housing the main offices of the mega-corporation. "If there are any officials still alive, they might be able to tell us what Saren was hoping to find here."

"Could be a trap," Wrex grunted as he scanned his own omni-tool. "You don't send distress signals out these frequencies. The vast majority of ships won't even be able to pick it up, let alone come and rescue them."

"Doubt it's a trap by the Geth," Jane replied absent-mindedly as she tried to decrypt the signal. The security was surprisingly high and even her SPECTRE authorization failed to unlock it. Jane frowned as she set her omni-tool to capture a copy of as much of the data stream as it could. The people at C-Sec would probably want to check it out. "The only thing I can think is that ExoGeni is doing something illegal here and they're sending as much data as they can off-world before C-Sec investigators get here."

"Orders, Commander?" Ashley asked as she leapt from the top of the turret and landed beside Jane and Wrex with a grunt of effort.

"Change of plans," Jane replied grimly as she unfolded her Saber and began a steady tactical advance from cover to cover down the skyway. "I want to see just what kind of shit ExoGeni has been doing here to attract Saren's attention."

* * *

"You think it's safe to mess around with that thing?"

Killian glanced to her side as the heavily armored xeno, Garrus, strode up beside her casually like she was his friend or something. As far as xenos go, he was one of the more tolerable ones Killian had encountered, but she trusted him about as far about as far as she could throw him. Not that she trusted the humans here either, but they could at least eat proper food according to the other xeno, Tali.

"You don't win big at tarot without putting down a few thrones." Killian replied with a polite smile as the alien's confusion served to somewhat amuse her and draw her attention away from the fact that he was probably right. The Geth weapon she now held in her hands felt foreign and she briefly wondered how Flavion would feel about her using it. Not that she really cared what the techpriest thought but it was wise to have all of one's bases covered in case some die-hard Emperor-botherer cried heresy.

"So," the Turian replied awkwardly as he toyed with his oversized auto-rifle. "Do humans really rule the galaxy where you're from?"

Killian narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion at the probing nature of the question. Was he simply being curious or was his true motive far more sinister? When she had briefly touched his mind back on the ship, the Xeno seemed honest enough, but one could never truly comprehend the mind of the alien.

"Not the entire galaxy," Killian replied cautiously as she extended her mind to touch that of the alien once more. She did not detect any hostile or malicious intent, but he was probably going to report everything she said anyway. "But we control the vast majority of it."

She had a unique opportunity to control the information about the Imperium these aliens would gain. Unfortunately, she was hardly in a position to judge just what information, or disinformation, she should disseminate. Her Master's had sealed the mission and the planet under the authority of the Inquisition and it was going to stay that way until he could make a proper assessment of this universe himself.

Well, Killian thought with a mental sigh, there was nothing she could do about it since she had to make a choice now. The real Diplomatic Corps will just have to make do with the consequences. It was not like she was giving out strategic and technological secrets.

"What about other species?" The Turian asked casually, but Killian could sense how badly he wanted to find out. She was still unsure whether it was simple curiosity, information gathering, or both.

"If you are asking whether we have encountered any of your species, then the answer is no." Killian finally replied after an awkward silence. She could tell he was not satisfied with the answer and that he suspected she was withholding information, but the Xeno made no further comment.

"I take it you don't get along with the other species?"

Glancing back to the front of their band of misfits, Killian saw Alenko studying her with a curious expression on his face. She did not trust him one bit, since the man reeked of xeno sympathizer all the way from Eletania to Feros. She could never understand why the humans in this universe willingly subjugated themselves to this Citadel Council. The present situation should serve to highlight exactly how much the Xenos cared for humanity. What was the point of accepting severe military restriction in exchange for a defensive alliance if the other side never actually defends you?

"What makes you say that?" Killian replied tersely as she kept her face neutral.

"Well, I mean you just seem cold when you're talking to Garrus and Tali." Alenko replied diplomatically as though trying not to offend her.

"The various races that inhabit our galaxy tend to eschew diplomacy in favor of conquest or random acts of violence." Killian explained briefly and hoped she did not just ruin some diplomat's day in the future. "Offers of peace and cooperation fall on deaf ears when the other side only wants to exterminate you."

Alenko looked like he was about to comment when the God-Emperor finally saw fit to end her bumbling and intervened. A colonist, a technician by the looks of it, ran up a flight of stairs in front of the team like a pack of daemons was chasing her. To their credit, Garrus and Alenko immediately responded by ducking behind whatever cover was nearest. Tali stood in the hallway for a split second before Garrus pulled her into cover beside him. Killian dropped into a crouch beyond an ancient stone support column and trained her newly acquired weapon on the approaching colonist.

"Oh god, help me!" The frenzied woman screamed as she ran towards the team like her life depended on it. "They're coming! They're right beh-"

The pitiful cries of terror were cut short, literally, as a high powered crimson beam of light seared through her mid-section and bisected the unfortunate woman at waist. The beam immediately cauterized her wound and set her clothing on fire. Her did not even have time to scream before the light faded from her eyes.

"Oh Keelah!" Tali cried out in surprise as the woman's torso flew down the hallway and slammed into the wall behind the Quarian with a sickeningly wet plop. The legs remained outright for another second before it too collapsed. "They're using DEWs! Find cover!"

These machines possessed las-weapons? Killian scowled in annoyance at the utter incompetence of the races of this universe. What were they thinking, allowing a race of abominable intelligences run around for millennia when they should have been killed off before they became a threat? The Tau, Warp take them, were the perfect example of what happens when you let seemingly small problems grow.

"Tali, can you overload that beam weapon from here?" Kaiden shouted over the barrage of 'conventional' light arms fire. The mutant enveloped himself in a shimmering sheet of blue energy before sticking his head cautiously around the corner. A burst of fire immediately forced him to retreat with a grunt of effort as small chunks of molten debris slammed into his barrier. "Garrus, grenade them as soon as it's down."

Killian studied her temporary squad mates with keen interest as they executed their orders. It was surprising how well such a diverse gathering of xenos and heathens worked together. Of course, one should never estimate the abilities of the alien and the heretic, but to see them working in sync to bring down a common foe spoke of how much they trusted each other. She had worked with the Eldar during the Siege of Cadia, but the tension between the two sides had been thicker than Terminator armor.

A sharp crack signaled the detonation of the overload grenade Tali had launched from her omni-tool. The Turian immediately leaned out of cover as the machines struggled to recover from the surge of energy. Garrus primed two disk shaped explosives and threw them at a pair of disgusting looking robots clinging to the walls. The disk flew true and stuck to the walls between the two machines before detonating with two loud blasts of high explosives. The shrapnel from the grenades instantly shredded one of the unarmored snipers, turning it into a heap of pseudo-flesh and white internal fluids.

Amazingly, the other sniper had leapt out of the way of the explosion. The creature was suddenly stopped mid-jump by a blue sphere of energy. It emitted a buzz of distress before the field exploded violently, sending chucks of it raining down over its brethren. The other Geth quickly recovered from the energy attack and opened fire on the team, forcing Alenko and Garrus back under cover.

Killian cursed silently as a stray shot nearly took her head off as she tried to peek around her cover. She knew she had one of their kinetic barriers, but she did not trust it to work reliably enough to stake her life on it. Sighing in annoyance at fate once again forcing her hand, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She began to slowly expand her mind across the battlefield, making sure to keep her mental barriers up in this vulnerable state.

Strangely enough, the presence of the machines burned with such intensity that she briefly panicked at the thought of them all being powerful psykers. However, upon closer inspection, the Geth soldiers seemed like small cities viewed from orbit. Where most living creatures burned as one whole entity, the Geth bodies were covered in thousands of smaller lights of variable strengths.

She did not know what to make of it.

Once again cursing herself for not learning pyromancy, Killian expanded her consciousness until she finally found what she was looking for.

* * *

Battlemaster Ganar Jarloc smiled savagely as he quietly advanced upon the unsuspecting intruders. The machines were doing an acceptable job of keeping them pinned down and the fools were still had not noticed him sneaking up behind them. His grip tightened on his battered but well maintained Claymore in anticipation of the coming kills.

The pathetic colonists were no match for true Krogan and the ancient Battlemaster fondly recalled the feeling of power as he crushed the life out of their pathetic, fragile bodies. Silently glancing around the corner, he sneered in disgust at what immediately drew his attention.

A Turian.

He hated the damned birds almost as much as he hated Salarians.

It was going to be highlight of this campaign when he got to smell the Turian's fear as Jarloc snapped his mandibles and fringes off like dry twigs. Maybe he might have fun with it before he put it out of its misery. He had a bottle of ryncol on his belt and he gleefully imagined how the Turian would react to him pouring it down his throat. His warband never got tired of doing it to the Turians they captured in the Terminus Systems.

Maybe he'll imagine the Turian was that bastard Saren while he slowly choked to death on his own blood.

"Machine, this is Jarloc," he whispered into his helmet transmitter to the Geth Prime leading the robots. "Keep them pinned while I get into position. If you so much as singe my armor, I'll rip you in half."

"We understand, Ganar-Squad Leader." The synthetic replied immediately, causing Jarloc to snort in disgust. He never thought he would miss the Vorcha in his warband. The Geth could shoot a whole lot better and could actually follow simple orders, but the lamp-heads lacked the sheer ferocity and blood thirst of the Vorcha. "This platform will move into position to support you directly."

"You going to have all the fun, Jarloc?" A voice grumbled from his com-link, causing Jarloc to smile savagely. The rest of his band consisted of young whelps not bloodied in combat against real warriors. If intel was right, then these people were the ones Saren was worried about. He was not going to let those pups steal his glory.

"Shut your damn mouth and do what I say, whelp!" Jarloc growled dangerously before shutting off his com-link as he stalked closer to the Quarian woman in the back. She was obviously trained in combat, but lacked the experience of an actual warrior. Her death would be mercifully short compared to that of the Turian standing in front of her. The intruders numbered a total of four with the two humans taking cover on the other side of the hallway.

This was going to be way too easy.

Reaching into his belt, he withdrew two grenades and casually flung them into the middle of the invaders. One of the humans yelled out a warning but it was too late. Two dull thumps signaled the detonation of his concussion grenades.

With a savage roar, Jarloc aimed his shotgun and blasted the stunned Quarian woman in her helmet. The powerful shotgun barked like the thunderstorms of Tuchanka and kicked back into his shoulder with enough force to snap the arm of any lesser race. The blast immediately breached the shields of the Quarian and turned her visor into a crumbled mess of metal and flesh.

The Turian screamed something incomprehensible at him and he snared in anger at the sound of their foul language. With a mighty roar of anger, he smashed the butt of his shotgun into the Turian's face with a deeply satisfying crunch of metal and bone. The bird dropped like a sack of pyjack crap and he turned toward the last two remaining targets. He hoped the weak Turian was just knocked unconscious because he could use something to entertain the rest of his band after this fight.

The human male and female opened fire on him with pathetically small caliber weapons that chipped away at his barriers to no effect. He laughed savagely as he slowly advanced on the human female. The fragile creature in front of him backed away from the massive Krogan Battlemaster in terror and he smiled wickedly as activated his biotics and lifted her up into air. With a howl of delight, he ripped her into pieces and grinned as blood rained down onto his crimson armor.

Suddenly, a biotic blast knocked him back against the wall and he snared in anger as he felt the armor protecting his hump crack under the pressure. The last human flared with biotic power and was poised to detonate his biotic field. However, before he could react, Jarloc pumped his shotgun and blasted the sneaky human off his feet with a carnage round to the chest.

The biotic field instantly died out and he dropped onto his feet with a grunt of pain. The biotic push must have done more damage than he anticipated because he felt like he made been hit with a rocket. The floor was slick with the strange white flesh fluids of the humans and Quarians as he advanced on the human biotic. The man's powerful barriers had protected him from the full force of the carnage round but a massive bloody crater had been blown into his chest.

To his credit, the man was somehow still alive and stared up at him with a blank expression. Jarloc narrowed his eyes in confusion at the lack of emotions on the mortally wounded man's face.

"G-g-g-an-an-ar Squad Le-e-eader. Why?"

Jarloc's eyes widened in surprise at the similar tone and method of speech but he could not recall where from. Scowling in anger and helplessness, the Krogan leveled his shotgun and blew the man's head apart into a shower of metal and white blood.

"Well done, Krogan," a voice whispered behind him. "Your people are impressive fighters. Such amazing regeneration and high pain tolerance combined with a keen understanding of weapons and tactics is a dangerous combination."

Jarloc made to turn around and face the new threat but he suddenly collapsed to his knees. Glancing down, his eyes widened in shock at the state of his armor. Massive holes had been blasted through his chestplate and he could see his shredded organs through the melted holes. He had been so caught up in the thrill of the fight, he did not even realize how injured he was.

Shaking his head to clear the fog that seemed to fill it, Jarloc gasped in shock as he blinked blood out his eyes. The floor around him was littered with the broken bodies of Geth and the massive remains of the Geth Primed lay broken at his feet where the human biotic had been seconds ago.

"What…what is this?"

Suddenly, an intense pain erupted from his chest and he looked down to see the tip of a thin blade effortlessly slice through his armor. Strangely, the wound did not cause any pain and a cold numbness began to spread from the wound as the sword was pulled out of his back. His vision darkened and the last thing Battlemaster Ganar Jarloc saw was the human woman he thought he had ripped in half staring down at him.

* * *

AN: Why fight when you can get others to fight for you? Story wouldn't be very interesting if Killian had just splatter every one she meets against the wall. So I thought, what would the Inquisition really value? How about a telepathy specialist whose job is INTERROGATOR and can see the future (somewhat)?


	17. Chapter 17

**AN**: Always wondered exactly what part of the Fleet Rael'Zorah was in charge of. In this fic, he's the man in charge of the Migrant Fleet marines.

Killian is naturally mid-gamma level. Think Kinsky from the Ravenor books. Not as skilled as Ravenor and weaker in raw power than Soric. Can't shoot lightning to save her life and can't telekinetically move anything heavier than a feather. Not yet anyway ;)

Now, in regards to the state of the Imperium and its incompetency, there's a really nice post on this over at 1d4chan here. Skip to the section titled 'Why Everything is So Grimdark' near the bottom.

www\1d4chan\org/wiki/Adeptus_Mechanicus

Remember, a full STC is an automated factory designed to give people the ability to build everything. They're designed for frontier settlers back during a time when warp travel was even more dangerous and slow because of all the warp storms the Eldar were orgying up. A farmer could build a teleporter to help transport his goods into a neighboring city or ship, but he doesn't need to know how it actually works and the STC doesn't contain that information.

The Mechanicus salvages the wrecked remains of STCs and pray that they can get scraps of data out of burnt out hard-drives because the automatic factory part broke long ago.

* * *

"The signal is coming from dead ahead, two hundred meters." Ashley reported as the team took cover behind a section of collapsed tunnel ceiling. They had entered the much amphitheater sized garage of the ExoGeni Headquarters and Jane could see a military-grade blast door nestled under a narrow trench. The door was covered in scorch marks and sections of it look like someone had attempted to blast inside with high explosives. The design seemed Prothean but otherwise intact, even after all these millennia.

"Looks like the Geth couldn't get this door open," Jane replied optimistically as she studied the blast-door through her rifle's scope. Waving her team forward, Jane scanned the area with her omni-tool and frowned as the scans bounced off the strange Prothean metal. "There might be survivors taking shelter inside."

"Orders, Ma'am?" Ashley replied grimly as she sprint forward to crouch behind a burnt and flattened ground car with the charred remains of two humanoids still inside. She deployed her Typhoon's mass effect stabilizer on the blackened hood of the car to cover the entrance to the bunker, all the while doing her best to not glance at the gruesome sight next to her. Meanwhile, Wrex had advanced to within twenty meters of the heavy blast doors and taken cover behind a pile of fallen debris with his Wraith drawn.

"Stay here and cover that blast door," Jane ordered as she ran out from behind the rubble and sprinted over to Wrex's position. The Krogan glanced at her expectantly as Jane slid into position next to him before training her rifle back onto the door. Sighting through her scope, she was not really surprised to find nothing had changed. "Assessment, Wrex?"

"There's no way they don't know we're here," the old Krogan rumbled as he popped out his massive shotgun and changed the energy-charged disruptor ammo block for a chunk of incendiary material. With a satisfied grin, he reassembled his weapon and attached a wicked serrated bayonet to front of the weapon. "They're up to something and I don't like it."

"As much as I want to believe otherwise, I have to agree with you that on." Jane replied with a tired sigh as she folded up her Saber before drawing her Hurricane and unbuckling the strap on thigh sheaths, in case she needed her blades. "Stay here in case they decide to do something stupid."

"When do they ever not?" The Krogan asked with a smile as he did his best to remain hidden behind the relatively small pile of rubble. "Watch yourself Shepard."

"Count on it," Jane replied with smile after a split second of surprise at the Krogan's seemingly sincere comment. She knew the Battlemaster was a lot more complex of a person than typical Krogan stereotypes made him out to be, but she had always been a bit suspicious of him for wanting to come along for seemingly little reason rather than 'because it'll be a good fight.'

"Don't get all soft on me, Shepard," Wrex half growled in exasperation and amusement as he sensed Jane's surprise. "It'd be a damn shame if you got shot by some trigger happy corporate executive before you give Saren what's coming to him."

"Oh, that smug Turian will get what's coming to him," Jane replied with a wicked grin as she gave Wrex's shoulder plate a grateful pat before rising from her crouch and moving out of the cover of the debris field. The trench in front of the blast door seemed designed to keep out large vehicles and was covered by some kind of reinforced metallic mesh ceiling. The Geth had obviously tried to blast their way in to the door with heavy weapons but the strange Prothean building material had put an end to their plans.

Numerous scorch marks and dents were all that showed any damage from what looked like anti-tank ordinance all the way up to demolition charges. The blast-door itself was similarly scared but seemed like the Geth could not even put a dent into the material. What looked like a high-powered laser drill lay discorded to the side as though the Geth had finally given up and turned their attention elsewhere.

Jane cautiously strode down the narrow trench toward the blast-door housed in an enormous alcove in the 'ground' of the massive Prothean skyscraper. She kept her Hurricane lowered but kept the safety off just in case the people inside turned out to be less than friendly to see an agent of the Council. After a tense minute of creeping forward, Jane finally stood in front of the ancient Prothean bunker but nothing happened.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance," Jane shouted at the top of her lungs and hoped whoever was the other side could hear her. Considering how thick normal blast-doors even half the size of this one were, it was actually quite possible that it was soundproofed. She just hoped that the people on the inside still had audio sensors or it was going to take a long time before she got some answers. "I'm here to solve your Geth problem!"

Nothing happened.

Snaring in annoyance, Jane was about to repeat herself when several jets of pressurized air blasted out of several joints in the massive door. Jane stepped back wearily as several lights on the door began blinking and it began to emit a low whining noise.

"Commander," Ashley called out in alarm as several klaxons began to blaze throughout the room. "Get out of there!"

"Stand down and stay low," Jane whispered into her com-link as she shouldered her Hurricane and ran back up the trench to take cover behind some pieces of Geth technology. "Wrex, that goes for you too. Try to stay hidden until I find out more or they start shooting."

A pair of acknowledgment icons flashed green on her omni-tool as her squad mates took up supporting positions to cover the door. Ashley had a good field of fire with her heavy machine gun that would allow her to pour mass accelerator rounds down the trench on anyone coming out of the blast-door while Wrex had a clear line of sight down the middle of the trench. Taking a deep breath, Jane shoved all her training and instincts aside before lowering her weapon and stepping out from behind her shelter.

With a groan of tortured metal, the blast-door began to lower into the ground and a mist of mist-like gases flooded out from the inside. Jane immediately reached for her black N7 mask and clamped it over her face as the odorless vapor flooded over her.

"Freeze! Drop your weapons and get on the ground," a shaky and incredibly young voice called out from the mist, followed shortly by four lightly armored humanoids stepping cautiously out of the bunker. Jane quickly assessed their armor and weapons before rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Mercenaries. Elanus Risk Control to be specific. The notoriously cheap and unreliable private corporate security contractor, for when the executives did not want to spare the credits to pay for reliable protection. The four man team was equipped with low quality Elkoss Combine light armor and cheap Avenger assault rifles. Two of the mercenaries were holding their rifles wrong and other one was blocking his comrade's line of fire. It would be childishly easy for her to take out the entire group, but she forced her trained reaction to being held at gun point down and raised her hands in a gesture of non-violence.

"Easy boys," Jane muttered calmly and hoped the obviously trigger-happy mercenaries did not decide to do anything stupid. Her HUD showed Ashley trying to ask for orders, but a quick blink of her left eye sent the Gunnery Chief orders to stand by. "Let's not do anything you're going to regret later."

"For god sakes, Jeong, call off your thugs." A small group of people in civilian overalls fearfully stepped out of the bunker but stayed behind the four mercenaries. The one had who had spoken, a middle aged human woman in the uniform of an ExoGeni scientist, cautiously stepped away from the crowd and approached Jane. "She's obviously not Geth."

"Get away from her, Juliana," a man in the uniform of an ExoGeni junior executive demanded with a snare as he pushed his way to the front of the group while waving badly maintained Predator pistol around with frightening disregard for the safety of his comrades. The man aimed his weapon at Jane's chest, his face a mixture of fear and what he probably thought passed for an attempt at intimidation. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Like I said earlier," Jane explained calmly. The man was apparently in charge and clearly emotionally unstable. All it would take was a small spark to turn this situation into a bloodbath. "I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance and I'm here to kick the Geth off this planet."

"See? I told you it was safe," the woman stated with a relieved smile as the rest of the group of civilians let out a collective breath of relief. The people looked like they had been holed up in the bunker for days. Most of their once clean uniforms were covered in dirt and dried blood. The bunker reeked of stale sweat and rotting garbage. Their eyes darted around the area as they kept expecting the Geth to suddenly appear and massacre them all. Several civilians broke down in tears as news of the rescue party reached their ears.

However, Jeong's eyes narrowed slightly and his hold on his pistol tightened. Jane's instincts screamed at her to take action but she shoved it back down. Trying to keep her voice as calm and neutral as possible, Jane turned to the mercenaries with their cheap weapons still trained on her.

"I think you stood put those weapons down now," Jane stated icily as she stared down the young mercenary who seemed to be in command of the others. The boy gulped loudly and his hands began to shake in fear. He nervously glanced back at Jeong but the other man gave no sign he noticed his men's fear.

After a tense minute of everyone not moving a muscle, the mercenary leader finally sighed explosively before lowering his gun. His men immediately followed his example, leaving Jeong as the only one still aiming his weapon. Jane turned her gaze on the man expectantly, and after glaring daggers at the mercenaries for a second, he too lowered his gun but did not holster it.

"Good, now that we're done trying to kill each other," Jane commented with a relieved smile as she removed her mask and folded up her SMG. The people were still pretty jumpy, so it was probably best not to mention the illegal transmission they were sending. Citadel regulations stated that all organizations based within Council space include override codes that allowed C-Sec and SPECTRE agents to access their files in times of need. It was a capital offense for ExoGeni to send out transmissions her codes could not unlock and the company would probably face criminal charges when C-Sec got here. Jane returned her attention to Jeong and resisted the urge to slug the man in his smug face. "Maybe you can tell me why the Ge-"

"Where's the rest of the rescue team?" Jeong demanded impatiently as though Jane was one of his secretaries. "What about the Geth ships in orbit?"

Jane felt her fists clutch in anger but forced them to relax before the situation got even more out of hand. With an angry sigh, she activated her omni-tool and sent the all clear signal to the rest of her team. A second later, Wrex stomped out of cover with his massive shotgun not quite pointing in the direction of the colonists. The ExoGeni personnel backed away from the bulky Krogan Battlemaster in fear and one of the mercenaries half raised his weapon before thinking better of it after a wicked grin from Wrex. Ashley approached the door a minute later, her face neutral but Jane could see how tense the woman really was.

"My team and I were pushing through the front-lines toward your old headquarters," Jane explained as her squad members took up flanking positions but kept their weapons lowered. "Citadel forces managed to break the Geth blockade and my ship is docked at Zhu's Hope."

"Zhu's Hope," Juliana repeated in surprise before turning on Jeong angrily. "I thought you said they were all dead."

"I said they were probably all dead," Jeong retorted defensively. "How would a few colonists hold off the Geth?"

"Pretty well, actually," Jane replied with a strained smile as the urge to punch the executive grew by the minute. "We managed to push back the Geth assault and are securing the site right now."

"Then the orbital lanes are clear of Geth warships?" Jeong demanded as though he did not hear, or care, about anything happening around him except himself. Jane could not exactly blame the man for being terrified out of his mind after being holed up for so long with the Geth pounding at the door, but the man particularly oozed 'asshole' out of every pore in his body.

"Yes, there's a Turian frigate providing orbital cover," Jane replied as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and annoyance. There was nothing to be gained by troubling the survivors with all the details of just how dire and close the orbital battle had been. "My frigate is docked back at Zhu's Hope and I would advise that you move there and prepare for evacuation."

"No!" Jeong snapped suddenly, startling the other survivors before they could leave their cramped shelter. The executive seemed to notice everyone's reaction to his sudden burst and forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. After a second, he exhaled as calmly as one could expect under the circumstances before turning to Jane. "I appreciate the rescue, soldier, but when have a small transport docked here that we will take. Immediately."

Alarm bells went off in Jane's head and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. It made sense that a bunker like this would have an escape craft and that the Geth ships were preventing them from running, but she still had to find out what Saren was after and why ExoGeni was using a top of the line illegal transmitter. Her gut told her if Jeong got off the planet, she would never get her answers.

"Screw that, Jeong," Juliana snared before Jane could respond. The woman's face had changed from relief to a mixture of anger and grief. "My daughter is still in that building."

"Stop deluding yourself," Jeong snared as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "She's been in there for days. There's no way she could have hid from the Geth for that long."

"You don't know that," Juliana retorted angrily. The woman's voice nearly broke and she seemed to be on the verge of tears. "The building stretches for kilometers and we haven't even mapped a quarter of it."

"Sure, whatever," Jeong replied dismissively as he waved his arms in mock sympathy. "There's plenty of places she could have hid. For a short time, anyway." He added condescendingly as though the woman was foolish for wanting her daughter to be safe. "We'll make a full account of the causalities once the facility is sec-"

He never got to finish his sentence, as Juliana surged forward with tears now openly streaming down her cheeks and slapped Jeong across face, sending the surprised man crashing to the floor and his pistol sliding across the room. One of the mercenaries tried to rush forward and restrain the distressed woman, but Ashley raised her Typhoon threateningly.

"Don't even think about it, dirt-bag," Ashley growled in barely contained anger. The mercenary immediately raised his own gun and the two stared each other down through their gun sights. The other mercenaries seemed about to join in until a threatening look from Wrex and a wave of his shotgun convinced them otherwise.

"That's enough, all of you," Jane stated in a threatening tone in order to end the tense situation before it could escalate further. Silence filled the bunker as the stand-off continued as though nobody heard her. Jane sighed explosively before stepping forward right into the barrel of the mercenary's rifle and shoved it down with a surge of biotic power. The man's eyes widened in shock and he stumbled backward in fear, away from the angry biotic soldier. Slowly, Ashley too lowered her weapon but her expression stated clearly to everyone exactly how she felt. Jane turned away with a scowl of annoyance and began to address the crowd. "C-Sec will need to debrief everyone before we can release you. Until then, nobody is leaving this planet."

"You can't do that," Jeong argued as he nursed his already bruising cheek and slowly pushed himself back onto his feet. Looking around for his fallen weapon, he made to retrieve it, but a massive armored boot crunched down on the gun and crushed the low quality alloy instantly. Jeong looked like he wanted to argue, but a innocent smile from Wrex as the Krogan wiped the powdered remains of the weapon off his boot convinced the man that would be unwise. Returning his attention back to Jane, the man tried to nurse his bruised ego by attempting to put on a tough face. "We have rights! You can't detain legally detain us."

"Actually, that's where you're wrong," Jane replied with a sly grin. "I'm Commander Jane Shepard, of the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

* * *

The look on Jeong's face as all the color drained from it almost made the few minutes she had spent with the man tolerable.

"Keelah…" Tali whispered in sickened awe as she gingerly stepped over yet another broken Geth corpse. The concentrated stench of their internal fluids splattered across the floor filtered through her mask like an insidious worm and almost made her gag. She tried not to think about the fact that the machines were still eerily shaped like her people or the fact that several machines seemed to be twitching in some kind of creepy death spasm. The insane Krogan had torn through the Geth lines like mass accelerator round through deck-plating. There were enough parts sown around the room for an entire squad of Geth troopers.

The big Krogan's blood-stained corpse than fallen over the shattered remains of a massive Geth Command and Control Unit. The enormous pulse cannon wielded by the Geth Prime had torn the Krogan's chest into a twist mash of metal, flesh and bone. Tali kneeled beside the gruesome sight and tried to concentrate on the potent weapon that lay discord before her. Activating her omni-tool, she quickly scanned the massive gun before attaching the results to her latest reports to the Migrant Fleet.

Despite all the close calls with death she had experienced since the start of her Pilgrimage, Tali had to admit that joining Shepard had been one of the best decisions she had ever made. The knowledge she was gaining about new Geth technologies combined with the first-hand experience with the powers of the so-called 'warp' will echo throughout the fleet. She did not want to give in to delusions of grandeur, but there was little doubt that she had already achieved more in these past weeks than two full generations of her kin put together.

Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Rayya, commander of the Migrant Fleet marines, had been working for decades to find any advantage their people could gain over the Geth. Maybe her work here would be the final push needed to convince the Conclave that a war to retake Rannoch might actually succeed.

But, was it really worth the lives of so many of her already dwindling people? No matter how big of an advantage they had, the Geth still outnumbered them in ships and platforms by at least ten to one. Any battle would be bloody in the extreme and fatal to her people if it were to fail. The Heavy Fleet would no doubt be committed to the battle, and if they suffered crippling losses, there would be nothing left to protect the Fleet from pirates and the Batarian Hegemony.

"That was remarkably convenient," Garrus murmured in a strange tone as he kicked the Krogan's body over onto its back, drawing Tali out of her conflicted feelings. The wrecked corpse was covered in melted bullet holes but the Krogan had regenerated so fast that only the most grievous of wounds were still open. A small hole had been cut through the thick plated Krogan armor and it was hard to believe that something so small could bring down the powerful warrior.

"Blood pack mercenary." Garrus grunted as he kneeled down and wiped the orange colored blood of a section of the Krogan's armor. "The scourge of the Terminus Systems," the Turian detective spat with disgust before he leveled his Phaeston and put a small burst of rounds through the Scalp Crest of the dead warrior. "I knew they were scum, but I never thought they'd help a mad man and his army of homicidal AI's."

"Why would a Krogan work for a Turian?" Kaiden asked quietly as he worked on a valve built into the wall of the Prothean ruins. The technician frowned in concentration as he tinkered with his omni-tool before smiling in relief. Soon after, a sound like rupturing hull-plating resonated throughout the tunnels and a loud cacophony of noise began to increase in volume until it was almost deafening. It sounded like what happened when a massive water tank raptured back on the Rayya and nearly flooded a year's worth of essential crops when Tali was still a child. Kaiden stepped back with a pleased smile on his face as he dusted off his hands in satisfaction. "That takes care of the colony's water shortage. Now we just have to find that transmitter."

"They'd sell out their own mother for a stack of credits," the Turian replied automatically as he kneeled down to inspect the shredded remains of the strangely organic looking Geth. "What I am curious about is what caused him to go crazy like that."

"Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact that was planet is apparently saturated in warp particles," Tali replied as she began a scan of the new Geth model. The things had been frighteningly fast and were armed with what looked like beam weaponry. If it could be reverse engineered by the scientists on the Flotilla, her people could sell the technology to the Hierarchy or the Alliance for an exorbitant sum. It might enough to commission a new Live Ship, or even buy the colonization rights to a small garden world. "Remember how fast it affected the people on the Normandy?"

"I hope these seals will actually protect us," Kaiden murmured as he deactivated his omni-tool before drawing his pistol. He absent-mindedly poked at the strange smelling ribbon had been stuck onto his armor with hot wax. Tali herself was rather skeptical of it actually offering any protection. It seemed like silly superstition, but then again, what she had seen in the past few days seemed like something out of a holo-vid.

"Relax, Lieutenant and try not to think about it," Killian replied from across the room as she inspected a series of a Prothean symbols etched into the wall. "I'll be able to tell if it's beginning to affect you. There's nothing else we can really do and it'll be better to not get caught up in the 'ifs' and 'buts'."

"I'm actually more worried about the colonists here," Garrus stated grimly as he tweaked with the sights on his assault rifle. "You guys notice how some of them seem…off?"

"What are you talking about?" Tali asked defensively as she unfolded her shotgun and the entire group formed up in front of the door the insane Krogan had emerged from. While Tali was no expert on humans, the fact that they were some of the nicest people she had met outside the Flotilla seemed to contradict the image of insane monsters. "They seemed perfectly normal to me."

"Actually, now that you mention it," Kaiden whispered despite her objection as he waved the team forward through the ancient and still functional doorway into what seemed like the interior of a water treatment center. "Some of the people I talked to were definitely acting strange."

The path led them onto a narrow walkway suspended by metal struts over a raging artifical river. The noise from earlier was louder than ever and Tali had to manually adjust her helmet settings to filter it out. The room smelled of powerful purifying chemicals and more than a dozen millennia worth of accumulated dust and rust. She tried out to think about what would happen if someone were to fall into the dark waters below. Would they be swept out of the Prothean spire to fall hundreds of kilometers down to their deaths?

"What do you mean?" Tali asked, confused and worried at the thought of whatever tragic fate might befall the people of the colony.

"They were hiding something," Garrus stated as he half ran, half limped, forward to take cover than a thick metal support column while Kaiden and Killian covered him from opposite sides of the door way. "Call it a 'gut feeling' from my days as a detective. You know when people are lying or trying keep something a secret."

One by one, the team moved up the walkway until Kaiden signaled them to a sudden halt in front a bridge leading across the river into an adjunct chamber sealed by another Prothean door. Tali ducked behind a set of railings before activating her omni-tool to scan the area. The Geth uplink was close now, probably on the side of the doors, but something else drew her attention.

"I have a life sign," Tali whispered to the biotic squad leader as she shifted her aim to cover both the open bridge and further down the walkway where her sensors had detected an erratic humanoid life sign. "Might be a survivor further down this path. The Geth transmitter is across the bridge."

"We should hit the transmitter first," Garrus stated as he ran up to the bridge before ducking behind a stone pillar. "We can rescue the survivors once the Geth are taken out."

Kaiden remained silent for several as he pondered the situation. Tali could tell the man was conflicted between completing the mission and protecting a civilian. Garrus and Killian stared expectantly at the man, neither saying a word. Finally, with an exhausted sigh, Kaiden nodded in agreement.

"You're right," the marine lieutenant declared solemnly before he waved Garrus forward across the bridge. The Turian nodded in sympathy before shouldering his weapon and cautiously began crossing the ancient bridge suspended over the dark abyss. Killian gave Kaiden a small smile before she returned her attention to the sealed door on the other side of the chasm.

The Turian soldier was completely exposed as he approached the door. There was absolutely nowhere for him to take cover and no telling what was on the other side. The bridge was too narrow for him to move more than two steps in either direction and the door had a clear view of every single spot on it.

Garris stopped five meters from the door and held up his arm. Kaiden nodded in understanding before he engulfed himself in a flare of biotic energy. Stretching his arms out, the marine projected a powerful biotic barrier over the heavily armored and shielded Turian soldier. Nodding in appreciation, the Turian sighed deeply before taking a step forward into the sensor range of the automatic door.

"Get down!" Killian suddenly shouted before the door even opened.

Garrus responded without hesitation and dropped down into a backward combat roll right as the ancient door way split open. A beam of energy flashed through the door, leaving a trail of glowing blue ionized air straight through where Garrus's head had been a split second earlier. A hail of smaller grain-sized disruptor rounds blasted out of the door behind the initial beam attack and peppered the Turian's barriers and armor.

Tali reacted as fast as she could as adrenaline flooded her system and time seemed to slow down. Garrus was completely exposed to a small squad of Geth troopers and had nowhere to run. Kaiden was already straining to maintain the barrier as his face twisted into an agonized grimace and blood leaked out of his nostrils.

Reaching into one of her many pockets, Tali grabbed a small disk shaped device her father had given her before the start of her Pilgrimage. Withdrawing the EMP Arc Grenade, Tali threw the potent anti-tech weapon through the doorway. A second passed before a noise like a capacitor suffering a catastrophic overload echoed through the tunnels. A brilliant flash of light flooded from the chamber and illuminated the surrounding dimly lit area like a star. The entire squad was forced to avert their eyes from the doorway, but the fire from inside had stopped immediately. Garrus used the opportunity to push himself back to his feet and sprinted off the bridge back into cover next to Tali.

"Thanks for the warning," Garrus called out as his kinetic barriers cracked back online with a whoosh of displaced air. "How did you know what was going to happen?"

"It's a long story," Killian grumbled lightly as she kept her glare trained on the ozone filled doorway with her commandeered pulse rifle. "Maybe I'll tell you someday."

"Fair enough, can't really complain since I figure keeping my head is good enough," Garrus replied with a chuckle as he activated his omni-tool and launched a recon probe through the doorway. At first, the image displayed on his was filled with static, but a calibration of the probe's sensors soon dissolved the interference. The room was an unremarkable hallway connected to another chamber at the far end. An open balcony at the other side provided the perfect position to cover the room. Several Geth corpses lay sewn around the room, relatively undamaged except for the occasional shower of sparks from their chests.

"Nasty grenade you got there," Kaiden commented in awe as he moved to crouch beside her. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's still in early testing stages," Tali explained proudly. Her father was a brilliant machinist and the grenade had been one of his brainchildren. Designed to give marines a powerful indirect weapon against overwhelming Geth infantry by using a more powerful battery pack and discharge emitters based on the overload grenade. "My people have centuries of experience in fighting the Geth. Most of our most advanced technology is designed to counter them."

"You know," Kaiden replied with a smile as he cautiously rose from behind a set of railings while Garrus and Killian covered him with their rifles. "The Council and private groups are going to be looking for weapons to combat the Geth. Why don't your people sell their weapons designs? I know your fleet is always short on credits."

"We've tried before and after the attack on Eden Prime," Tali replied bitterly. Checking that her Piranha was loaded with a disruptor ammo block, Tali leaned out from behind the pillar she had taken cover behind and examined the chamber across the bridge. The power of the Arc Grenade was certainly impressive, completely ignoring cover and overloading the systems of the Geth snipers hiding on the far balcony.

"And what did they say?" Kaiden asked as he waved the team forward. Garrus popped out of cover, followed by Killian a second later. Kaiden drew his pistol before following the two while Tali brought up the rear.

"They ignored us," Tali growled in anger and resentment. "The Council refused to even acknowledge our request for an audience and forbid our ambassador from entering the Presidium."

"I'm sorry, I forget how the galaxy sees your people," Kaiden replied awkwardly before he tried to change the subject in order to avoid the controversial topic. "So…how far is the transmitter?"

"It should be just through that door," Tali whispered solemnly as she indicted the far side of the hallway. Killian nudged the corpse of a Geth trooper as it lay unmoving against wall suspiciously before she drew her sword and effortless ran it into the neck of the machine. A jet of high pressure milky colored fluid shot out and the woman barely had time to scowl and leap backward to avoid the disgusting substance.

"Any surprises waiting for us?" Garrus asked light-heartedly as he stopped several meters short of the door wearily. Tali waited her omni-tool and scanned the doorway for several tense seconds before she shook her head.

"No life signs on the other side and I'm not getting any Geth disruption on my sensors." The Quarian replied hesitantly, "But that doesn't mean they might not be concealing themselves somehow."

"Only one way to find out," Kaiden murmured as he nodded at Garrus, who returned the gesture. The two took up flanking position on either side of the door. Killian sighed deeply before she raised her rifle and slowly approached the door while Tali hung back and covered the way the team arrived through.

"Open it," Kaiden ordered as he primed two high explosive grenades while Garrus did the same. Killian nodded in understanding before she slowly advanced toward the door. A split second before it opened with a grinding screech of tortured metal, she leapt to the side behind Kaiden as he chucked his grenades through the opening doorway. Garrus activated his omni-tool and aired two overload grenades freshly constructed with omni-gel before ducking back under cover.

The door opened fully to reveal an enraged Krogan mercenary in the same blood red battle plate as the one seen earlier. The warrior roared a challenge as he caught sight of the intruders and raised his massive shotgun toward Tali. However, before he could blast the exposed Quarian, Kaiden activated his biotic amp and launched a fluctuating sphere of biotic energy straight into the Krogan's chest. The attack instantly crushed the chest plate of the Krogan and caused his weapon to explode in his hands as the heat sink raptured.

The mercenary roared in anger and pain as half his arms were seared by his exploding gun. He reached for a wicked combat knife strapped to his shoulder but another powerful blast sent him stumbling backwards into two of his comrades. Another Krogan roared in anger as his aim was thrown off target. He angrily shoved his momentarily stunned comrade aside and raised his wicked looking shotgun again. At that moment, Garrus's overload grenades detonated with a crackling arc of electricity, hitting the entire group and overloading their kinetic barriers and weapons.

Both Krogans blinked in confusion as their guns cycled into a lengthy restart cycle, an instant before the high explosive grenades detonated with two dull explosions. The blasts crushed massive sections of the Krogans' armors but failed to do any significant damage. However, the power blasts did stun the group, giving Garrus and Killian time to pop out of cover and open fire on the three mercenaries. The heavy Turian designed assault rifle poured out a torrent of armor piercing rounds while the lighter Geth pulse rifle unleashed a stream of disruptor rounds. The lead Krogan warrior roared in rage as he was peppered with a storm of bullets without suffering any grievous injury. Tossing his shotgun aside, the Krogan charged forward like a berserker, his massive armored fists arched backward, ready to strike.

Thinking better of opening fire with her relatively low powered Piranha, Tali quickly loaded her omni-tool's impressive collection of cyber-attack programs and selected one. Shoving her arm toward the charging Krogan, she launched a blast of cryogenic gases into his face. The Krogan yelped in surprise as the airborne chemicals immediately flash froze the blood under his exposed skin. Staggering forward for a few feet, the Krogan finally collapsed to the ground when a single round from Kaiden's pistol caused his entire head to shatter into a thousand frozen pieces.

The other Krogan charged into close combat with Killian while swinging his shotgun like club. The mercenary had gone into a blood rage due to the injuries he had sustained and he fought with a reckless abandon while frothing from the mouth and howling like an animal. The slender woman ducked under his first clumsy swing while dropping her pulse rifle in favor of her her sword.

Meanwhile, Garrus had opened fire on the Krogan Kaiden had knocked out of the fight. The massive soldier roared in anger, his wounds from the biotic attack apparently already regenerated. Drawing a large serrated dagger from a sheath on his shoulder, the Krogan charged Kaiden through the hailstorm of bullets Garrus was pouring into him. Kaiden barely had time to jump out of the way before the Krogan slammed into the ancient Prothean wall and pulverized a section of it with the force of his charge.

Tali shouldered her automatic shotgun and fired a blistering barrage of sledgehammer rounds. The high impact ammunition sent the Krogan staggering backwards but failed to penetrate his heavy armor. Kaiden jumped back onto his feet and threw both hands toward the off-balance Krogan. A flare of dark blue energy detached from the corona of biotic power covering his body and flew toward the Krogan. The dark energy field surrounded the heavily armored mercenary and slowly lifted him off the ground as his weight dropped below that of the air around him.

Seeing that his assault rifle was doing little more than angering the Krogan, Garrus reached into his bag and withdrew a grenade before tossing it at the suspended mercenary. The magnetic clamp on the explosive locked onto the heavy armor of the Krogan with a light click and a flash of confirmation. The Krogan's eyes widened in fear as he scrambled to pull the grenade from his body. Meanwhile, Kaiden summoned another sphere of biotic power and launched it at the unfortunate mercenary. The two biotic fields intersected with devastating results and the resulting explosion sent the mercenary flying into a nearby wall with bone crunching force before the grenade also detonated, turning the Krogan's entire chest into a hollow shell of pulverized bone and seared flesh.

While they dealt with one Krogan, Killian was nimbly dodging the fast but blunt attacks of its comrade with relieve ease. The Krogan roared as he brought his weapon above his head with the blade attachment aimed down at the woman in order to skewer her. As though reading his intentions, Killian leapt to the side at the last second as the wicked blade descended through the air she had occupied an instant ago. The Krogan lost his balance as his powerful attack hit nothing and he was forced to stumble forward to keep from falling over on his face.

Seeing her chance, Killian surged forward and swiped her thin blade through the overreached Krogan's arms. The blade cut through the heavy armor and reinforced bones of the Krogan mercenary as though it were parting air. The Krogan screamed in rage and pain as both of his forearms detached from his body and fell to the group. He stared at his charred stumps in surprise beside Killian jammed her sword through his chest up to its avian shaped hilt and out the Krogan's back before withdrawing it a second later.

Tali gasped as she witnessed the fight between the slight human and the massive Krogan. While the sight would have been impressive to any observer, Tali was shocked and intrigued by something else. She specially designed sensors had light up like an ruptured fusion reactor whenever the blade touched its target. The blaze of warp energy swirling around Killian seemed to surge down the blade and into its target. The final strike was the most prominent, causing the Krogan to swill with warp particles.

Killian placed an armored boot on the Krogan's paralyzed face and shoved him off her blade with a grunt of effort. The Krogan limply collapsed onto his back as Killian wiped his blood off her sword with a scowl of disgust.

Then something even more unexpected happened.

The Krogan's seemingly lifeless body began to rapidly decompose as though years were passing in the span of seconds. The strange particles radiated from the corpse like a beacon. Seconds later, all that was left of the fresh corpse was a pile of dust spilling out of his now empty armor. When the particles finally dissipated, nothing of the original Krogan was left except his battered armor.

"I don't want to know how you did that," Garrus commented flatty as he stared at the pill of dust and heavy armor. Tali and Kaiden stared in stunned amazement as Killian glanced at them and scowled in disapproval.

"I believe we have a job to do?" She prompted as she sheathed her sword and strode deeper into the room.

* * *

**AN**: I feel Feros is dragging on too long. Things pick up next chapter as the Geth gets taken care off, but as we all know, Shepard and Friends have bigger problems.


	18. Chapter 18 - Flashback 1

**AN: **And now for something a little different!

* * *

_What are you willing to forsake for the survival of humanity?_

_ Your life?_

_ Your life is not yours to give because it was never yours to begin with. To give one's life in service to the Emperor is one's duty and destiny. To give your life for humanity is the bare minimum required of any servant of the Golden Throne. Death in service to the Imperium is the greatest honor a man will ever achieve. _

_ No, death is not proof of one's devotion to humanity._

_ What is then, you ask?_

_ True devotion is the ability to stand before the Golden Throne with your head held high and accept whatever punishment, physical and spiritual, you rightfully deserve for being a martyr to humanity._

_ To give one's very soul for the survival of humanity is the ultimate proof of devotion._

_ You will be required to suffer for all eternity, to bear the sins of humanity on your shoulders so the rest of mankind can ascend to glory while you are thrown into the depths of hell for the blasphemous crimes you will commit on their behalf._

_ You will be shunned and hated by the very people you are paying the ultimate price for. They will never learn to understand all that you have sacrificed on their behalf._

_ And you will die happy knowing your suffering has kept them in blissful ignorance._

- Inquisitor Henrik Kosver to Explicator Killian Ibrena, M41.996

Thought for the day: The blood of the martyr is the seed of the Imperium.

* * *

"So you think you're special because you shot up some Batarians?" Commander Klain screamed into her face as Jane stood at attention, her body as rigid and still as a board. Her muscles were starting to cramp and the pain threatened to show on her face, but she forced herself to keep her face neutral as she stared straight forward at nothing in particular. "Do you think just because you saved Grissom's summer house, that it means you can just strut on in here and get your N7 certification? Respond, Candidate Shepard!"

"Sir, no sir!" Jane screamed back immediately as she fought to keep her voice steady. Her mouth was so dry that the words sent daggers into her throat and she resisted the urge to cough violently, not because of the horrible pain it would cause her, but because she refused to show the slightest bit of weakness in front of her trainer and evaluator.

"I don't care whose commendation you got and which politicians are backing you, maggot!" The hard-ass reeked of cheap cigars and gun lubricant but Jane would be hard pressed to name a better soldier. The man was the picture perfect N7 soldier, with a twisted noise, a scar over his right eye and muscles thicker than a small tree trunk. His black N7 armor had been polished to a shine and Jane had never seen the man without a disgusted scowl on his face at any time during the past week since she first arrived at the so-called Villa. "I don't care if God Himself came down from the sky and told me you're his Chosen! I decide who makes it through this program and so far I'm not impressed."

Jane did not reply to the man's taunts and after a minute of searching her face for any response, the man grunted before beginning to pace back and forth in front of her. It had been a month since the massive pirate raid on Elysium and most of her injuries had been healed. Her left thigh still ached somewhat from the serrated Batarian ballistic blade had narrowly missed her artery but she was otherwise back to her peak. The publicity generated by her heroic defense of the colony had made her the so-called 'Heroine of Elysium' and an overnight celebrity. She had gotten offers from politicians for endorsements, partnerships, even a petition for her to run for the Alliance senate.

After a week of hounding by the press and cuddling by Alliance public relations, Jane had been worried that she would be shipped back to Earth or Arcturus as some kind of paper pusher and public relations spokeswoman. They had slapped her on the back and promoted her to First Lieutenant, bypassing regulations to get her the promotion as fast as possible. What had started out as a desperate fight for survival had soon turned into a nightmare.

Jane was no politician and she never cared much for the back room dealings between the Alliance and nations back on Earth. She wanted to serve humanity and follow in her family traditions. The Shepard family had served in the military for generations and Jane grew up on ships. She had expected them to kick her up the chain of command into a dead end and safe position, but when the letter arrived, she was shocked to find out that she had been chosen to undergo the prestigious N7 program in Rio.

"I can hear your breathing! Is standing there too hard for you?" The man mocked as he began to circle Jane while continuing his rant. "Do you think I won't kick your ass out of this program just because it'll look bad for Alliance public relations? Respond, Candidate Shepard!"

"Sir, hell no, sir!" Jane yelled as she shoved her discomfort and pain aside once more.

"Well then, prove it, you fucking worthless girl-scout!" The man snared as shoved his face within an inch of Jane's own and she could feel his spittle land on her cheeks. She did not react to the disgusting and invasive act. "I'll be going back to my quarters to enjoy a wonderful meal and the company of a fine lady. You, on the other hand, are not to move from this position until the guard shift change at 1800 hours."

The man glanced at an gold pocket-watch before slipping it back into pocket and continuing his yelling. Judging by the position of the Sun, Jane guessed that she would have to wait at attention for another four hours until the shift change.

"You will then infiltrate the base, steal whatever the hell you want to eat and then be in your bunk by lights out at 2100 hours." The man smiled wickedly as he turned around and walked back toward the distant Alliance training camp. "I don't think I need to tell you what would happen if anyone caught you, do I? Respond, Candidate Shepard!"

"Sir, no sir!"


End file.
